This dam runs from the village of Schellingwoude in the north to the eastern side of the Amsterdam–Rhine Canal in the south.

The idea is that a 0.1 mm layer of water in the two hydro feet supports the 50 ton lock door.

The 23 houses were built for the engineer, the lock master, the maintenance official, and a number of workers.

When Amsterdam accepted to construct the Westerdok and Oosterdok wet docks in order to get a deep water port, the Goudriaan plan was cancelled.

However, when the details were discussed, it was noted that the reasons to resist the dam and locks in the eastern IJ in 1828, were no longer valid.

[8] With other concessions, this led to the law of July 1862, which proposed to sponsor the construction of the North Sea Canal by a private company.

[5] In the first versions of the final plan, the IJ was closed of from the Zuiderzee by a dam which stretched from the polder IJdoorn in the north over the Pampus shallows to a battery position in the Diemer Buitenpolder in the south.

Amsterdam urged its completion before any other works in the IJ, in order to prevent further silting up of its harbor during the construction of the canal.

They favored a location between Paardehoek (north east angle of the dam around the Oosterdok near Zeeburg) and the city.

[15] By October 1865 the government allowed the constructor of the North Sea Canal to choose between closing the IJ at Pampus or at Paardehoek.

Their small but very numerous vessels could be serviced by one large lock, but they foresaw long waiting hours.

From the top to 0.5 m below AOD temporary fascines loaded with stones protected the dam against waves on both sides.

[10] By October 1866 the dam from the Waterland dike till the future location of the locks in the 'pit of Schellingwoude' and a part of south of it was under construction.

The Cofferdam of Schellingwoude was constructed in the area where the locks, the pumping station and a sluice were planned.

A correct measurement of the distance of 80+ m was crucial to attain the perfect circle which would give maximum strength to the coffer dam, but this led to much trouble.

Next, a new screen of closely fitting piles was driven 5 m inside the ring to secure the bad place.

At the place of the earth movement the ground then fell in, leaving the piles bare for a depth of 30 feet.

The total breach was about 20 m wide, and the initial flood had hit the opposite side with such force that it was permanently bent outwards.

Outside of the outer ring three groynes of pile work were constructed at the most exposed place in order to keep the waves from flushing the sand away.

[35] On 28 April King William III set the marble cornerstone stone of the locks in the Pit of Schellingwoude.

After a gun salute and playing the national anthem, the king, the crown prince, the government ministers, and a large group of dignitaries had lunch in a temporary building at the bottom of the pit.

Many people in Amsterdam then got worried about whether the pumping station at the Oranje Locks would have enough capacity to drain the IJ.

On 18 March 1872 at 6 AM the Boeier (a traditional yacht) Ondine of Mr. Coers was the first vessel to pass the Oranje Locks.

On 4 June 1872, the dike through the IJ was closed, meaning the last section rose above the water level.

[44] The hurry with regard to the locks, and the closure of the dike south of it, was also caused by a contractual obligation to close the IJ by 1 November 1872.

In the first months of operation there were many complaints about missing facilities, especially those that allowed vessels to safely come to a halt or anchor before the locks.

In July 1877 the locks of the North Sea Canal serviced: 61 frigates and barques, 18 brigs, 21 schooners, 2 koffs, 147 screw steamers, and 224 fisherman.

It employed a scoop wheel, which was in line with the relatively modest difference in water levels between the IJ and the Zuiderzee.

[54] By the 1950s the Oranje Locks were very outdated, and could hardly handle the increased traffic of ever larger inland ships.

There was a desire to remove the dam and locks, but in case of trouble this would require a pumping station of unheard of capacity.