SSC MTS EXAM

Detailed explanation-1: -For the next few centuries, the Dutch worked to slowly push back the water of the Zuiderzee, building dikes and creating polders (the term used to describe any piece of land reclaimed from water). Once dikes were built, canals and pumps were used to drain the land and to keep it dry.

Detailed explanation-2: -Fully one-half of The Netherlands lies below sea level–but since Medieval times, the Dutch have used a clever and comprehensive system of dikes and levees to keep the country relatively dry. The characteristic windmills that once dotted the countryside were used primarily as pumps to keep the North Sea at bay.

Detailed explanation-3: -The traditional polders in The Netherlands have been formed from the 12th century onwards, when people started creating arable land by draining delta swamps into nearby rivers. In the process, the drained peat started oxidizing, thus soil levels lowered, up to river water levels and lower.

Detailed explanation-4: -3 locks, 6 dams and 4 storm surge barriers together form the Delta Works. They make up the Netherlands’ largest flood defence system. The Delta Works were built by Rijkswaterstaat to protect the country against flooding from the North Sea.