Wim Harwig

Categorie: thermphos

  • The weather forecast was correct; rain showers !

    The weather forecast was correct; rain showers !

    Especially with this type of weather it is great fun to take beautiful pictures. Although it is important to protect the expensive equipment against too much moisture. But … if you are too protective, you will miss the most beautiful moments again.

  • Usually heavy work, but in between always time for a chat and a newspaper …

    Usually heavy work, but in between always time for a chat and a newspaper …

    People who perform heavy work know it … you have to know exactly what is your weakest link and ensure that it does not break. So it is important to eat and drink on time and take a pause. Only in this way will you be able to “survive” until your retirement. What we did…

  • A typically tough and hard-working laborer

    A typically tough and hard-working laborer

    Jaap Bosman was always called “Lange Jaap” (tall Jaap) by colleagues at the Hoechst-site in Vlissingen, because in our shift there were 3 operators with the same Christian name … and Jaap was indeed as tall and strong as a bear, always wore the largest size overalls and shoes and his helmet always seemed too…

  • Night shift Hoechst Vlissingen, 1983.

    Night shift Hoechst Vlissingen, 1983.

    Back then it was strictly forbidden to take pictures … (it was the time when it was not even allowed to use a transistor radio in the control room) … so I took pictures illegally, to capture the atmosphere in the control room where colleagues also came for a cup of coffee and a short…

  • Vlissingen, 1984.

    Vlissingen, 1984.

    In 1984, the year in which George Orwell foresaw a totally different world, the Vereniging Nederlandse Loodsen Sociëteit existed for 100 years and that fact was celebrated exuberantly with all kinds of festivities. At the moment I am digitizing my old negatives from that year 1984, because our society has now come to resemble the…

  • https://drenthinspectieservices.nl/

    https://drenthinspectieservices.nl/

    Caspar asked me for some photos he can use for his new site : https://drenthinspectieservices.nl/ It had to have a few tubes, barrels and other inspectable stuff on it … So I dived into my archive. and found a few examples … . . old school tools much more can be found in my Thermphos…

  • Just visited my former workplace.

    Just visited my former workplace.

    It was storming, it was raining and it was cold. But the dog had to get out and I thought: Let’s go to the monument and let everything blow in the wind … I think it’s fantastic that apparently it was possible to put an old “slakkenpan” next to the monument. Ton Witte could have…

  • torn apart skeletons of Thermphos.

    torn apart skeletons of Thermphos.

    I took these photos in January 2020. Torn apart “skeletons” of Thermphos. They were located on the square, which was temporarily used as a kind of cemetery. All the RA-contaminated “meat” was taken off and sprayed off. Not long after, the entire building was toppled with explosives … I’ve taken tons of photos and because…

  • Cycling in Vlissingen-Oost

    Cycling in Vlissingen-Oost

    Today I cycled a bit through the industrial area of Vlissingen. A lot has changed. And before new installations can be built, the old one must first be safely demolished. EPZ’s coal-fired power plant has been out of operation for years and its chimney is now being demolished. Of all Thermphos buildings, only the skeleton…

  • my velomobile history …

    my velomobile history …

    For years I’ve used a velomobile for my commute. I had a good condition although I was a heavy smoker and used to smoke even while cycling.In November 2013 I quit my job at the Thermphos-site and had to use a car, for my employers were not accessible by bicycle or the distance was way…

  • It is done!

    It is done!

    My work at Petrogas is over … The project has been successfully completed. Fortunately, everything has been carried out without major accidents … Of course, much remains to be cleaned up and residual material to be removed, but our task to process all free phosphorus into phosphoric acid has been completed. Because of the COVID-19…

  • melancholy

    melancholy

    Full of melancholy I cycled home yesterday after the last night shift … it could be the last … The “phosphoric acid plant” is now blowing the last vapor from its chimney … maybe a few more days … then the factory will die. What a differance compared to the situation on Juli 2010 ……

  • commuting with Quest 552

    commuting with Quest 552

    My colleagues Harm and Bram saw me arriving at work in my velomobile and made a video with their mobile phone. Nicely done guys! If I’d known they were recording … I would’ve gone much faster 😉

  • dismantling is almost done

    dismantling is almost done

  • Wim

    Wim

    He had the same first name as me: Wim.I have worked with him for about 7 months and since this weekend he will leave the team to go back to his old familiar workplace in Eindhoven.At the last minute, I was able to take a few photos in which he is in a position that…