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Fort
Hoofddijk was built in 1879 as one of the fortifications around Utrecht
that formed part of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie, or 'New
Dutch waterline'.
This defense line made use of inundating parts of Holland to stop the advance of the enemy, but because Utrecht was on relatively high ground, it needed an additional ring of fortifications. Wikipedia: Dutch Waterline (en) |
Photo courtesy of Douwe van Hinsbergen |
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Housed in a historical
bunker in the middle of the Utrecht University Botanical
gardens , it sports a variety of instruments to investigate the magnetisation
of earth material (mostly rocks).
(Photo: Ingeborg van Oorschot) |
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The Fort
building is excellently suited for rock magnetic and paleomagnetic research,
partly because it is not very sensitive to mechanical disturbance (vibrations)
and temperature fluctuations. The Fort is entirely built from bricks, providing
a magnetically very quiet environment.
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In the front of the building are offices, a chemical lab, a ‘cantine’ for coffeebreaks and lunch, and a magnetically shielded room. (Photo: Ingeborg van Oorschot) |
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In the former gunpowder
storage rooms - where there is no iron or steel because of spark danger
- much of the lab equipment is found.
One of the 'Remises' serves as the sample preparation room. |