The
Zuiderzee Works are a man-made system of
dams and dikes,
land reclamation and water drainage works, in total the largest
hydraulic engineering project undertaken by the
Netherlands during the twentieth century. The project involved the damming of the
Zuiderzee, a large, shallow inlet of the
North Sea, and the reclamation of land in the newly enclosed water using
polders. Its main purposes are to improve flood protection and create additional land for agriculture.