J.C. de Leeuw pumping station, Van Ewijcksluis

Its modest appearance does not give it away, but the J.C. de Leeuw pumping station on the Van Ewijcksvaart is a provincial monument of great historical significance in terms of hydraulic engineering. It was the very first permanent steam pumping station in the Noorderkwartier, used for the diking and drainage of the Anna Paulowna polder.

In the 1840s, there was a great need for agricultural land because Dutch agricultural and livestock products were in high demand. This made it attractive for investors to put money into land reclamation, and as a result, several polders were created in the Kop van Noord-Holland region through private initiative. The largest reclamation project was the Anna Paulowna polder, for which King William II authorisation granted authorisation in 1844 and to which Queen Anna Paulowna gave her name. The polder was drained in 1845-1846 with the help of windmills and a steam pumping station, a technique that was still experimental at the time.

The steam engine was supplied by the Utrecht steam engine manufacturers G. de Waal and E. van Driest and was housed in a wooden shed near the newly constructed Van Ewijcksluis. The engine had a capacity of 23 hp, drove a screw pump, and could pump 100 cubic metre per minute. In 1847, the Utrecht manufacturers supplied a second steam boiler and the wooden shed was replaced by a stone pumping station, built by the Haarlem contractor Willem van Doorn (1790-1874), who also built farms and bridges in the new polder. 

Nevertheless, the drainage of the Anna Paulowna polder continued to cause difficulties for many years. A total of six screw windmills were installed, which remained in use until 1913. In 1873, it was decided to replace the steam engine in the pumping station because it wascompletelyoutdated and consumed a great deal of coal. Two new boilers were installed, this time made by the Amsterdam steam engine factory De Atlas. From then on, the pumping station was able to pump 82 cubic metre per minute. In addition, it was decided to build a steam pumping station near the village of Kleine Sluis. From 1873 onwards, these were referred to as pumping station I and pumping station II.

Around 1900, the board considered replacing the steam engines, but ultimately switched to the new technology of the suction gas engine in 1912-1913. In 1912-1913, two suction gas engines, supplied by the English machine factory Crossley Motors in Manchester, were installed in the completely renovated pumping station I. The two screws were replaced by two centrifugal pumps, supplied by the well-known Stork machine factory in Hengelo. Pumping station II was also equipped with a suction gas engine, and the drainage system now worked so well that all but one of the windmills could be sold.  

During the night of January 13-14, 1916, the Dutch coast was hit by a severe northwesterly storm. Sea dikes broke in various places in North Holland, including the Anna Paulowna polder. A large part of the polder flooded and remained under water for months. Pumping stations I and II could not cope on their own: numerous mobile emergency pumping stations were deployed and the last screw windmill also helped with pumping. Within three months, the Anna Paulowna polder was drained. For the windmill, it was a swan song: it was dismantled in 1919.

In 1933, the suction gas engines were in need of a thorough and expensive overhaul. Because they were also expensive to operate, it was decided to replace them with two electric motors, each with a capacity of 100 hp, which would henceforth drive the centrifugal pumps. The motors were supplied by the electrical engineering company Smit in Slikkerveer. The pumping station was renovated and reduced in size because the part where the gas generator was located was no longer needed. Only the engine room remained, and several windows were bricked up. 

On September 22, 1942, the board of the Anna Paulowna polder decided to rename the pumping stations after distinguished figures from the history of the polder. Pumping Station I was named after Johan Carel de Leeuw (1816-1880), the designer and first dike reeve of the polder. He had been in charge of the diking since 1845 and had named the polder roads himself. He named the road that still leads to pumping station J.C. de Leeuw Stoomweg, after the steam engine. He was a great advocate of steam drainage and the reclamation of the Wieringermeer.

For many years, the pumping stations were sufficient, but between 1988 and 1994, the water management of the polder was significantly improved by the installation of two new pumping stations. The new Balgdijk pumping station was built on the Oude Balgdijk in 1989. The J.C. de Leeuw pumping station was listed as a provincial monument in 1984 and after 1989 was only used as an emergency pumping station, for example in the event of extreme rainfall or major maintenance work on the Balgdijk. A new electric motor was recently installed to drive an old centrifugal pump. This pump can discharge 55 cubic metre per minute. 

Extra

• The J.C. de Leeuw pumping station is located on the Den Helder - Julianadorp - Anna Paulowna - Van Ewijcksluis - Den Helder cycle route (Fietsknoop).
• Those who walk the Old Ferry Route will also pass the pumping station (North Holland Walking Network).