The ministry was headed by one minister and one state secretary. The ministry's main office was located in the centre of The Hague. The civil service was headed by a secretary general and a deputy secretary general, who headed a system of four directorates general:
Passenger transport
Freight transport of goods and civil aviation
Water Affairs
Public Works and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat)
There were two autonomous agencies:
Inspectorate for Transport, Public Works and Water Management
An important other institution involved in water management in the Netherlands are the Water boards, which manage local and regional water works. These are independent institutions chosen by land owners and citizens.
The Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management is one of the oldest in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1809 as the Ministry of Water Management, which existed in several different forms until 1831, when it was integrated into the Ministry of the Interior. In 1877, Water Management, Trade and Industry became a separate ministry again. In 1906 Water Management became a separate ministry. After the World War II, Transport was added to the responsibilities of the ministry.
![Azure, billetty Or a lion with a coronet Or armed and langued Gules holding in his dexter paw a sword Argent hilted Or and in the sinister paw seven arrows Argent pointed and bound together Or. [The seven arrows stand for the seven provinces of the Union of Utrecht.] The shield is crowned with the (Dutch) royal crown and supported by two lions Or armed and langued gules. They stand on a scroll Azure with the text (Or) "Je Maintiendrai" (French for "I will maintain".)](https://akarinohon.com/text/taketori.cgi/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:State_coat_of_arms_of_the_Netherlands.svg@.257_Roberts)
