The Vianen water tower stands in a meadow on the outskirts of the town. The tower was built in 1909 by the Koninklijke Rotterdamsche Betonijzer Maatschappij based on a revolutionary design by Roelof Kuipers. It was the first water tower in the Netherlands to have an open support structure completely made of reinforced concrete without brick cladding. The 26.3 metre high tower with a capacity of 100 m3 was built on the foundations of the Saint Pol Keep of Batestein Castle demolished in the year 1771. While the tower is now the only building on this site, the location of Batestein Castle can be regarded as the first business park in Vianen. After the municipality of Vianen became the owner of a large part of the site in 1830, a variety of companies and factories settled there. Until 1954, it was the site of a gas factory.
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The Vianen water tower stands in a meadow on the outskirts of the town. The tower was built in 1909 by the Koninklijke Rotterdamsche Betonijzer Maatschappij based on a revolutionary design by Roelof Kuipers. It was the first water tower in the Netherlands to have an open support structure completely made of reinforced concrete without brick cladding. The 26.3 metre high tower with a capacity of 100 m3 was built on the foundations of the Saint Pol Keep of Batestein Castle demolished in the year 1771. While the tower is now the only building on this site, the location of Batestein Castle can be regarded as the first business park in Vianen. After the municipality of Vianen became the owner of a large part of the site in 1830, a variety of companies and factories settled there. Until 1954, it was the site of a gas factory.
From 1866, most Dutch houses were connected to water supply networks. During a major cholera epidemic in the same year, it was discovered that clean drinking water prevents this disease. Water towers have an important role to play in this regard. With the water level in the tower, they regulate the pressure of the water supply network. Today, the task of water towers in the Netherlands has been taken over by a control system and most water towers still remaining have the status of national monuments.
Further reading: Large Pump/Vianen Town Pump, Batestein Castle, The weigh-house.
