Elevator

The elevator was used in various European ports for the transshipment of different types of agricultural bulk such as grain. The machine is in fact comparable to a vacuum cleaner. Two big steam driven vacuum pumps in the centre of the hull provide for a vacuum in the top part of the tower. With four flexible pipes the cargo was sucked out of the seaship, weighed on a scale in the middle part of the tower and then - thanks to gravity - loaded into inland barges. There is only one real elevator left. It is to be seen in the museum harbour of the Rotterdam Maritime Museum. It is about 30 metres long, over 10 metres wide and over 30 metres high. The dimensions of the model are (lxwxh) 77 x 27,5 x 90 cm.