NationStates Jolt Archive

Pol•der, noun: An area of low-lying land, especially in Knootoss, that has been reclaimed from a body of water and is protected by dikes.
~NationStates dictionary

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Lead in
The making of a polder is not just a simple technological task. Polders are subject to a wide range of design decisions and every decision concerning management and planning is a design decision as well. For this reason it is of the utmost importance to call in highly qualified designers for the process of developing a new polder. If not, the appearance and the viability of the polder will be left in the hands of minor local officials in which case it is doomed to become yet another monument of planning impotence

One of the first decisions to be made concerns the trajectory of the enveloping dikes. The early polders in the swampy Knootian lowlands simply followed the outlines of existing lakes. When one is capturing a sea, however, one must act differently: the dikes are as elastic threads stretching between fixed points, shaped by the forces of wind and water. The resulting graceful curves form attractive concave bay areas eminently suitable for long boulevards. Endless roads stretching out meaninglessly into the sea are to be the first veins of the system. With the dikes completed, the land dries out to below sea-level. Underlying geological qualities are then developed through an imposed grid of squares. Some areas are best suited for grassland, others for agriculture or for developing nature. XYZ axes for urban development are superimposed across the functional and thematic blueprint of the grid. At the point where the main axes intersect is the city centre

Large dimensions, emptiness and absence of detail are the visual qualities of this new man-made world. Crossing the polder is experienced as a single greatly stretched point of time, and designing a polder is designing with time

The first activity within the X and Y axes will be the planting of millions of trees. The pioneers inhabiting the new polder must fell trees to clear a site. Next, another stimulation grid is superimposed on top of the original grid. The communication lines touched by the grid are imbued with significance. At the centre of the point strategy is the international airport. All points generate a number of celebratory events and dramatic images, the urban acupuncture promoting scientific entertainment, experimental farming, art satellites or simply the beauty of an abandoned wasteland.

((OOC: This thread continues from this thread: Taraldanorë Royalty visits Noordeinde Palace (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=393032) ))

Queen Elizabeth had set up shop in Palatoria, the current southernmost city of Fireforge, located near the seacoast, though that was soon to change. She had already handled all the politics. Holistan complaints about fishing. Farinori environmental concerns. Elizabeth had never understood why anyone would make environmental protests in the Resurgent Dream. The nation was consistently considered environmentally stunning and had some of the best protected landscapes in the world. Still, it was a concern for pooka and for Farinori nobility and for the Slow Empires.

Nonetheless, Elizabeth had dealt with that and now she was letting the engineers do their jobs, sitting quietly and reading reports of how the affair was progressing. She had requested copies of the actual plans and schematics which littered the large table in the corner of her office. She was no geological engineer to be sure but she thought she got the gist of what she was paying for...and she LIKED it.

I made a picture of the plan! Yay! (http://www.fredvogels.org/images/Polderproposal.PNG)

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Palatoria, Fireforge
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Engineer Dijkstra and his men carefully guided Queen Elizabeth into the SimRoom. The SimRoom was a large computer centre with a grand screen providing a digital representation of a visual overview over the sea south of Fireforge. It was dark inside the room as if it were a cinema about to show an exiting new movie, but around her the Knootians were still working on various panels, making some final preparations for the presentation. One of the corporate communications attachés, a tall blonde human with a friendly demeanour, explained some of the working processess of the SimRoom and how it would be used during the actual construction of the Polder.

Finally she was arranged to a nice seat that had been brought down from one of the adjoining offices, and the presentation started with a visual representation of the sea. As the engineer explained: “First we build a big wall into the sea that will double as a road in the future. This will be our main dyke, the guarding dyke, and it will follow the current flows and depths as we have studied them.” – two curvy lines were projected in orange from a point in Farinor and a point at the Fireforge-Holista border, gradually meeting one another in the middle of the sea. “this external layer will be the most difficult part, but simultaneously”… a straight purple line began to trail the orange line at a much slower pace “we will begin constructing the secondary dyke, which will be the sleeping dyke you see here.” – he pressed a button and the show it fast-forwarded to both lines being complete. “When the process is complete, several powerful big pumps will be placed on the inside of the wall at regular intervals ---- here here and here” – dots began to appear at regular interval coupled with a digital visualisation of the proposed facilities “And they will begin to pump the water out. Now… you have a piece of relatively dry land, looking somewhat like this.”

A photo appeared of a muddy wasteland stretching till the horizon. But it was fertile, black mud with water running through it.

“The problem is that the water seeps back under the dyke, so you have to keep pumping. That is why canals will be running along these y-axes to collect the water and pump it into the sea to the south. The canals that are used for moving the water away are called the "Watering" and they, too, will require smaller electric pumps to pump the water out of the inner sea ‘lake’ we have now and into the Ringvaart, which is the canal itself.” He smiled at the use of the Dutch word. Just like Inuit had sixty words for ‘snow’, the Knootians had many, many words for different types of canals and waters and the English language just didn’t cover them. “This ringvaart lies between two mini-dikes a few meters above the level of the land within the polder as the simulation shows”.

The computer simulation zoomed in to round-level, showing the polder as several meters below sealevel with the canals running towards it a bit higher. Gradually the land turned into a dry area with a provisional roadtrack running along the canal.

“The next phase will be planting trees, millions of trees” - the computer simulation fast-forwarded this process, and an entire forest sprang out of the now dry lands. First the trees alone, but then the simulation included the undergrowth and even some small holographic birds as a nice touch. “These can be felled if needed, obviously, but they will be planted in areas where this will not be needed initially so it will double as nice scenery. Knowing your people a little they’d hate to live in towns with only endless mudland surrounding them. From there… cities can develop. The airport, the extended railways, everything.” The map zoomed out again to show this: “This can all be planned from the beginning. A clean sheet – with only you to decide what to put there. No existing interests, no difficult terrain features, just your will and your word.

He turned to the next part of the presentation: “The outer dykes, here in orange, are built to protect the polders and keep the water from flowing into them. The dyke closest to the sea, here, is called the guarding dyke, the one after that here in purple we call the sleeping dyke. The waterworks of the original coast will become moot, and they are thus known as the dreaming dykes.” As Elizabeth frowned the engineer immediately explained: “The secondary dyke is to guard the inland in case something happens to the outer dyke, but it is not build to withstand continuing pressure of the full seas so damage to the guarding dyke will eventually have to be repaired. Think of it as a failsafe. These outlying lands here are therefore best used for agriculture, nature or recreation.” He smiled reassuringly as the Queen looked concerned. “But don’t worry. The guarding dykes are, of course, unbreakable.” – his engineers pride showed. “They are built to withstands storms that take place only once in two millennia so it is quite safe. All that this thing is lacking is a name, should you approve this design of course?”

All the men and women in the room now turned towards Queen Elizabeth, holding their breath.

OOC: Dike? Dyke? I don't know and neither does Word. I'm bloody confused.
Also, making some blatant assumptions about your character ;)

Elizabeth listened carefully to everything that was said. She paused when one of the points anchoring the orange line was on the coast of Farinor. "Someone send a copy of this to Queen Elayne's people. She'll need to approve that point. Offer her some reasonable interest in the projected land."

She smiled as trees were discussed. "Does it matter at all what manner of trees? This requirement could also help our agriculture if we were to plant, for example, apple orchards. Would that be possible?"

Wiping her silver hair from her face, she considered a long moment at the end. She folded her delicate hands quietly in her lap as she looked to each face in the room, each in his or her turn. "This looks very much like what I wanted, closer than I thought might have been possible. You may consider yourselves to have a contract with the Kingdom of Fireforge. My financial people will see to the details. This project is a go under the name 'The Lowlands Project'.

“Apple orchards work”, one of the Knootians – apparently a biologist - assured. “Although it may slow down the drying process it will certainly increase revenue. I would never recommend apple orchards alone though,” he said. “Monocultures can be dangerous if used on such a vast scale”…

when the Queen permitted the projects some cheers went up from the adjoining corridor. Soon, construction could begin…

Elizabeth nodded. "Other trees can create revenue as well, of course. Even forests one intends to keep require the regular harvesting of lumber to avoid becoming overgrown. I'll have my people come up with a specific mix of trees and let yours look it over to make sure it's workable."

One year later

“Watch out for that block! Careful! Careful” – an agitated engineer de Vries motioned his arms wildly, but he was but a tiny spec from above at a monstrous crane that stood at about 250 metres tall. All the operator of the crane on top could see was sea, and the waves were wildly beating against the newly made inroad into the sea.

For a split-second a shadow came over the faces of the men below as a huge concrete slab was lifted over their heads…

((just to give me a start for tomorrow))