Boezem (Rotterdam)
The Boezem is a body of water in Rotterdam and connects the Rotte with the Nieuwe Maas .
In the 18th century, the water in the polders north of Rotterdam was diverted into the Rotte. This meandered through the residential area of Rotterdam, and floods kept coming. To relieve the pack, which could not absorb so much water, the Boezem was built as a drainage channel for a polder from 1772 onwards.
At the level of Crooswijk , a two-part branch was made: a low canal that had the water level of the Rotte and a higher canal that emptied into the Meuse. Eight windmills were built between the two canals to pump the water to the Maas level . In 1854 another canal with a rainwater retention basin was built.
From 1897 to 1899 a steam-powered pumping station was built in Rotterdam on the Admiraliteitskade. As a result, it was no longer necessary to operate the windmills and parts of the two canals and the retention basin were filled. This is where the Nieuw-Crooswijk district emerged.