RINGERS

NETHERLANDS (see also List of Individuals)

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2.1.1885 Alkmaar/NL - 6.5.1965 s'Gravenhage/NL

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Johannes Aleidis Ringers graduated as a civil engineer from Delft Technical University in 1906. He joined the Waterstaat as an engineer in Goes. From 1909 he was an engineer of the third class and was involved in the improvement of gates. In 1916 he moved for some years to the Dutch Indies, today's Indonesia where he was involved in railroad projects. Upon returning to the Netherlands in 1922 he again joined the Waterstaat to contribute to the hydraulic sluices in IJmuiden, then the largest worldwide. A paper published in 1927 reports on these works, for which Ringers was awarded the Conrad Medal by the journal De Ingenieur.

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In 1926, Ringers joined the Zuiderzee works that were referred to as one of the seven miracles of the 20th century. The Dutch government passed in 1918 the Zuiderzee Act with three main purposes: (1) Protection from the North Sea for Central Netherlands, (2) Increasing the Dutch food supply with new agricultural land, and (3) Improved water management by creating a lake out of the former uncontrolled salt water inlet. The project was initiated in 1927 with the main dam running from Den Oever on Wieringen to the village of Zurich in Friesland 32 km long and 90 m wide with a height of some 7 m. Works progressed better than expected such that the closure was in 1932, with the IJsselmeer as the water body cut from the Sea. Ringers was appointed in 1930 Director General of the Rijkswaterstaat, the institution dealing with the Zuiderzee works, and awarded the Honorary Doctorate in the same year from Delft Technical University for his services to his country. Ringers concluded his contribution to this work in 1935 to join the Dutch railways. In World War II he was arrested by the Nazis and freed only after three years of prison in 1945. He served then as a Minister of Reconstruction and was also active for the negotiations with Indonesia's independence.

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_{Graeff, A.C.D. de, Maris, A.G. (1965). Dr.ir. J.A. Ringers. De Ingenieur 77(23): A367-A369. P}

_{Ham, W. van der (1999). Stille kracht der waterstaat. De Ingenieur 111(19): 41. P}

_{Ringers, J.A., Josephus Jitta, J.P. (1927). Sluisbouw IJmuiden. De Ingenieur 42(10): 169-181. Ringers, J.A. (1927). Proeven en beschouwingen, welke geleid hebben tot het vaststellen van het systeem van vulling en lediging van de kolk der nieuwere schutsluis te IJmuiden. s'Gravenhage. Ringers, J.A. (1936). De nieuwe oeververbinding te Rotterdam. De Ingenieur 51(19): B69-B83.}

_{Ringers, J.A. (1947). Een eeuw Nederlandse waterbouw. Scheltens en Giltay: Amsterdam. http://www.parlement.com/9291000/biof/01855 P}