It was created in 1831–1832 by constructing the Oosterdoksdam and the Oosterdoksluis, forming a reliable deep port closed off from the tidal IJ.

The harbor of Amsterdam was basically a place were ships could conveniently anchor on the IJ, immediately before the city.

Here smaller ships could attach to a series of interconnected mooring poles called De Laag.

Larger ships did not attach to a quay to unload, but transloaded goods on boats that brought these into the city via the many canals.

After the French period, King William I of the Netherlands attempted to revitalize the Dutch economy by improving land- and waterways.

[4] The inhabitants of Amsterdam knew that in the past, vessels sailing to nearby European ports had anchored in the center of the city, at the Damrak.

In 1775 Jan van Houweningen suggested to give the shores of the IJ before the city a more regular profile, so the currents would increase, instead of being slowed by the many works present.

In 1805 the Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen offered a double gold medal in a contest to solve the problem.

In Amsterdam, the construction of a wet dock only to maintain the high tide, would not result in a deep harbor.

It was generally agreed that the many canals opening on the IJ, the many mooring poles, De Laag, and the many ships at anchor,[9] were responsible for the quick accumulation of sediment before the city.

The concentration of the drainage of the Amstel between the docks would also make it easier to keep the final trench to Amsterdam deep enough.

[2] In the end the city ceased to resist, because the Goudriaan plan also included the closure of the IJ on the Zuiderzee side.

[11] The first part was a 4,194 m long dyke through the IJ from its western end near Kraansluis (Kraan Lock) to the Diemerdijk near Zeeburg in the east.

Foundation work for the lock started before the first stone was laid by on 11 June 1830 by Prince Willem, the later King William III.

The Marine Etablissement, with the prominent 's Lands Zeemagazijn, now National Maritime Museum, occupied about half of Kattenburgh Island.

Oostenburgh Island used to be home to the operations of the Amsterdam Division of the Dutch East India Company.

[13] The close by Entrepotdok added to the attraction of Oosterdok, because ships could unload to these warehouses without having to pay import duties.

The Oosterdokseiland came into existence when it was decided to construct the future Amsterdam Centraal station on an island in the IJ between Westerdok and Oosterdok.

Most of it was made on the outside of the dyke surrounding Oosterdok, but there was also a significant part constructed inside the dock.

Therefore the old wet docks no longer had such a decisive advantage over the IJ with regard to unloading at a quay.

To the contrary, both wet docks suffered from the disadvantage that ships had to cross the railroad in order to reach them.

Railroad traffic soon increased to the point that ships had to wait till the late evening to cross into the Oosterdok.

The next phase in the development of the port of Amsterdam was the Oostelijke Handelskade, a quay constructed on the northern side of the Oosterdok dyke.

At the quay, modern (steam or hydraulic) cranes would quickly unload the ship into warehouses without transloading.

This procedure of first unloading to the warehouse, and then reloading on another means of transport, was advantageous because of the low cost of (steam)powered (un)loading.

At about the same time, the large classification yard on Oosterdokseiland made room for a regional main post office.

With the Ministry of Defense abandoning most of the terrain of the Maritime Establishment, the grounds of the Rijkswerf are not partly open to visitors.