16. Boezem steam pumping station Halfweg - Halfweg

The steam pumping station of Halfweg is the second boezem pumping station of Rijnland. It was built after the drainage of the Haarlemmermeer. One pumping station was not enough to regulate the water properly. That is why a second pumping station was needed.

In 1853 the pumping station was put into operation. It was built by the company Van Vlissingen & Dudok van Heel.

The pumping station operated on steam engines and wooden scoop wheels. This was the same system as at the boezem pumping station in Spaarndam. The pumping station pumped water from the Ringvaart to a forebay. From there the water flowed via one, and later two, old sluices in the Spaarndammerdijk to the IJ. After the construction of the Noordzeekanaal and the reclamation of the IJ, the water was discharged to Zijkanaal F.

In 1923 new steam engines from Stork were installed. These replaced the old machines. The scoop wheels remained in use.

Steam engines from Stork played a crucial role in the industrialisation of the Netherlands, especially in the Twente textile industry, and symbolise the technological leap that made mass production and prosperity possible. They were essential for the transition from manual labour to mechanised production. In 1977 the pumping station stopped operating. This was because a new pumping station was built at Halfweg. In 1985 the Hoogheemraadschap van Rijnland transferred the building to the Stichting Vrienden van het Stoomgemaal Halfweg.

Two years later, in 1987, the pumping station opened as a museum.