Paddling Water. Paddle-wheel Steam Pumping Station, Halfweg, The Netherlands
Lots of water on the way from Amsterdam to Haarlem, today and in the past. In the past even more so because the Haarlemmermeer (Haarlem Lake) was drained only in the middle of the nineteenth century and 't IJ was stll an open water connecting to the Zuyderzee/North Sea. Great sea storms and high water threatened the very walls and gates of Amsterdam and Leiden. Atter devastating storms in the '30s King William I in 1837 signed a decree to drain the Haarlemmermeer. Serious work wasn't done until the early 1850s, and the pictured Steam Pumping Station (1852) played an important part in the enterprise.
That Pumping Station was built right by the complex of sluices and locks that had functioned from the Middle Ages onward to control the waters between the Lake and 't IJ. Amsterdam and Haarlem were both important cities and people had to be able to travel the 15 km stretch safely and as quickly as possible. The dike road was slow and muddy, so it was decided in 1631/2 to dig a barge canal between the cities, the first such enterprise in the northern Low Countries. Halfway the canal encountered those sluices and locks, so passengers would have to disembark, walk across and board another barge on the other side. Soon inns, pubs and such arose to cater to people's needs. And that was the beginning of the town of Halfweg, about half-way between the two cities. The steam pumping station served until 1977 and its function was then taken over by a new, modern electrical unit at the Amerikahaven. It's now a working museum.
The pumps are in the building on the far left in the photo. Part of the complex - on the right - is now a restaurant and cafe.
Paddling Water. Paddle-wheel Steam Pumping Station, Halfweg, The Netherlands
Lots of water on the way from Amsterdam to Haarlem, today and in the past. In the past even more so because the Haarlemmermeer (Haarlem Lake) was drained only in the middle of the nineteenth century and 't IJ was stll an open water connecting to the Zuyderzee/North Sea. Great sea storms and high water threatened the very walls and gates of Amsterdam and Leiden. Atter devastating storms in the '30s King William I in 1837 signed a decree to drain the Haarlemmermeer. Serious work wasn't done until the early 1850s, and the pictured Steam Pumping Station (1852) played an important part in the enterprise.
That Pumping Station was built right by the complex of sluices and locks that had functioned from the Middle Ages onward to control the waters between the Lake and 't IJ. Amsterdam and Haarlem were both important cities and people had to be able to travel the 15 km stretch safely and as quickly as possible. The dike road was slow and muddy, so it was decided in 1631/2 to dig a barge canal between the cities, the first such enterprise in the northern Low Countries. Halfway the canal encountered those sluices and locks, so passengers would have to disembark, walk across and board another barge on the other side. Soon inns, pubs and such arose to cater to people's needs. And that was the beginning of the town of Halfweg, about half-way between the two cities. The steam pumping station served until 1977 and its function was then taken over by a new, modern electrical unit at the Amerikahaven. It's now a working museum.
The pumps are in the building on the far left in the photo. Part of the complex - on the right - is now a restaurant and cafe.