Four barrier and six secondary dams were built to close off the mouths and inner reaches of the broad, long, interco.... dam gate

When the dams were completed, fresh water from the Rhine and from other rivers gradually replaced the entrapped salt water. This dam consists of several strings of gates and their massive supporting piers and totals about 1.75 miles (2.8 km) in length. During a severe storm, however, of the type that caused the 1953 flood, the gates can be dropped to keep out high tides and storm surges and prevent them from inundating the adjacent lowlands. New roadways and connecting bridges were built over several of the Delta Project's dams and dikes, thus ending the historic isolation of the area from the rest of The Netherlands.