A story about the eternal Dutch battle against water
Steam ground vier Noorder Koggen
Kaart Stoomgemaal Vier Noorder Koggen
The Vier Noorder Koggen steam pumping station is located on the IJsselmeer near Medemblik . The water board of the polder De Vier Noorder Koggen had this pumping station built in 1869 to support the polder mills. Due to the subsidence of the soil, fifteen polder mills were needed here, which gradually flowed the water into the former Zuiderzee in windmill tunnels, and a further ten mills stood near Aartswoud. In windless periods the polder was flooded. The steam-powered drainage went so well that the pumping station was expanded in 1907, making all 25 mills superfluous.
The steam engines were used until the completion of an electrical pumping station in Wervershoof in 1975. From 1976 the steam pumping station was hardly used and in 1985 the building, a national monument since 1975, became the home for the Dutch Steam Engine Museum. The pumping station will be put back into use as an emergency pumping station in case of serious flooding.