polder is a low-lying land that has been reclaimed and is protected by dikes (especially in the netherlands).
polder is a low-lying land that has been reclaimed and is protected by dikes (especially in the netherlands).
a low-lying land that has been reclaimed and is protected by dikes (especially in the netherlands)?
polder
levees are very common on the marshlands bordering the bay of fundy in new brunswick and nova scotia, canada. the acadians who settled the area can be credited with the original construction of many of the levees in the area, created for the purpose of farming the fertile tidal marshlands. these levees are referred to as dykes. they are constructed with hinged sluice gates that open on the falling tide to drain freshwater from the agricultural marshlands, and close on the rising tide to prevent seawater from entering behind the dyke. these sluice gates are called "aboiteaux". in the lower mainland around the city of vancouver, british columbia, there are levees (known locally as dikes, and also referred to as "the sea wall") to protect low-lying land in the fraser river delta, particularly the city of richmond on lulu island. there are also dikes to protect other locations which have flooded in the past, such as the pitt polder, land adjacent to the pitt river and other tributary rivers.
levee
the prince of orange, however, was determined to relieve the city. therefore, he sent a carrier pigeon into the city pleading for it to hold out for three months. to fulfil this promise, he wished to break the dikes, allow the sea to flood the low-lying land (in the same fashion that alkmaar was saved), so that the siege could be lifted using the rebel fleet, and the spaniards forced to retire before the incoming sea. but the damage to the surrounding countryside would be enormous, and therefore the population of the area resisted the cutting of the dikes. however, in the end, the prince prevailed and the outer dikes were broken on august 3. previously, the prince's admiral louis boisot had assembled a fleet of more than two hundred small vessels, manned by 2,500 veteran dutch seamen, and carrying a large store of provisions that had been collected in preparation to lift the siege. soon after the first dikes were broken, the prince of orange came down with a violent fever and as he was the moving force in all these machinations, the planned relief of the besieged city came to a grinding halt. more importantly, the flooding of the outskirts took longer than expected because the wind was not favourable. during this time, on august 21, the inhabitants of leiden sent a message to the prince saying that they had held out for three months, two with food and one without food. the prince answered them, again by carrier pigeon that the dikes were all pierced and relief would come soon.
siege of leiden