Interesting and Fascinating Windmills- By Simran Vedvyasby Simran Vedvyas | 12-01-2014 18:45 |
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    Today the Modern Windmills generate electricity. Once a country of 10,000 windmills, Holland now has over 1,000 historic vertical mills, more than any other country in the world. Vertical mills come in a variety of shapes, from the post mill, hollow post mill, tower mill, and the smock mill. Did You know that-
To drain the polder, a system of 19 windmills was built around 1740. This group of mills is the largest concentration of old windmills in the Netherlands. The windmills of Kinderdijk are one of the best-known Dutch tourist sites. They have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997. Problems with water became more and more apparent in the 13th century. Large canals, called "weteringen", were dug to get rid of the excess water in the polders. However, the drained soil started setting, while the level of the river rose due to the river's sand deposits. After a few centuries, an additional way to keep the polders dry was required. It was decided to build a series of windmills, with a limited capacity to bridge water level differences, but just able to pump water into a reservoir at an intermediate level between the soil in the polder and the river the reservoir could be pumped out into the river by other windmills whenever the river level was low enough the river level has both seasonal and tidal variations. Although some of the windmills are still used, the main water works are provided by two diesel pumping stations near one of the entrances of the windmills site. |
