Ice and water. The removal of ice on waterways in the Low Countries, 1330–1800
| Autor: | Adriaan M. J. de Kraker |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Předmět: |
History
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences Geography Planning and Development 0211 other engineering and technologies 021107 urban & regional planning 02 engineering and technology 01 natural sciences Archaeology Period (geology) Little ice age History general 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Water Science and Technology |
| Zdroj: | Water History. |
| ISSN: | 1877-7236 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s12685-016-0152-3 |
| Popis: | This paper looks into the blocking of ice on Dutch and Belgian rivers and canals during the Little Ice Age and how this has affected shipping and other economic activities. The key issue here is how contemporaries have dealt with such extreme circumstances during the fourteenth to eighteenth centuries. In order to address this issue the paper will give an overview of the severity of winter severity during this period. Then it continues to discuss the earliest examples of measures taken by towns to deal with frozen over canals and rivers. Information on this matter is retrieved from the late medieval town accounts of Flanders, such as Bruges which are very detailed with regard to the kind of work contractors carried out for the town. From these accounts it is clear that early in the fourteenth century ice was systematically removed and by the end of that century the first primitive ice breakers were introduced. Examples of ice removal during the sixteenth and seventeenth century, from the canals around Ghent and Brussels, demonstrate further details of large scale ice removal. By comparing ice blocking in Flanders, Holland and even Emden (Germany), and the methods used by each district one can see how systematic and similar the ice removal procedures were. Finally the introduction of the classic pre-industrial ice breaker will be discussed. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
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