Afsluitdijk with the Wadden Sea (part of the North Sea) on the left and the IJsselmeer on the right in the Netherlands. Which should it be called, dam or dyke? Afsluitdijk in red. This is namely "close-off dyke or dam," damming off the Zuiderzee, a salt water inlet of the North Sea, and turning it into the fresh water lake of the IJsselmeer. The dam serves as a sea barrier to protect the inland against flooding. The Roman dam at Cornalvo in Spain has been in use for almost two millennia.
The Afsluitdijk (... English: "Enclosure Dam") is a major dam and causeway in the Netherlands. [5]
The Afsluitdijk is a fundamental part of the larger Zuiderzee Works, damming off the Zuiderzee, a salt water inlet of the North Sea, and turning it into the fresh water lake of the IJsselmeer. The dam serves as a sea barrier to protect the inland against flooding.
The Dutch word 'dijk' (dike) is actually a division between land and water. The name Afsluitdijk would be correct if the entire IJsselmeer had been drained. However, due to the change of plans it was left flooded so the Afsluitdijk is a barrier between two bodies of waters. In Dutch that is a 'dam'. This structure could more properly be called 'Afsluitdam'.
