Wouda Pumping Station

Lemmer, Netherlands

The ir. D.F. Woudagemaal is the largest still operational steam-powered pumping station in the world. On October 7, 1920 Queen Wilhelmina opened the pumping station. It was built to pump excess water out of Friesland, a province in the north of the Netherlands.

In 1967, after running on coal for 47 years, the boilers were converted to run on heavy fuel oil. It has a pumping capacity of 4,000 m³ per minute. The pumping station is currently used to supplement the existing pumping capacity of the J.L. Hooglandgemaal in case of exceptionally high water levels in Friesland; this usually happens a few days per year.

Since 1998 the ir. D.F. Woudagemaal has been listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. The station is open for visitors and tours are given regularly.

References:

Wikipedia

Address

Gemaalweg 1, Lemmer, Netherlands

See all sites in Lemmer

Details

Founded: 1920
Category: Miscellaneous historic sites in Netherlands

More Information

en.wikipedia.org
whc.unesco.org
www.holland.com

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Maëleen Riochet (3 months ago)
We didn't book tickets we went one hour before the closing and we caught the last guided tour. Worth it! We learned a lot. And it was in English. I guess they also make it in Dutch and we probably got lucky to fall into the English one.

Gervais Evers (5 months ago)
Amazing engineering and the pumping station is in perfect condition (no wonder - it’s still a working back-up). Great guide

Johan van den Heuvel (5 months ago)
When in the Netherlands and you are a technical buddy than this is a very interesting place to visit, great heritage. With Lemmer in the near vicinity makes it a nice daytrip.

Peter Wassink (2 years ago)
Have visited it before, now managed to get tickets when it was active helping to drain the province of Fryslan. Very impressive, great tourguide, really busy but amazing. When you love old mechanics and industrial engineering this is a must "see it working" experience for sure !

Johan van Waveren (2 years ago)
No wonder this technical wonder is on the UNESCO list! 100 years young, from coal- to diesel- to McDonalds recycled grease-fired, and still in it's prime! Still able to assist in the water management of the Northern provinces. Warmly recommended.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Finest Norman castles in Italy

Exploring the History of Northern Poland

Discovering Slovenia's Historic Wonders

Photo from Flickr, copyright Klearchos Kapoutsis

Historic Site of the week

Beckov Castle

The Beckov castle stands on a steep 50 m tall rock in the village Beckov. The dominance of the rock and impression of invincibility it gaves, challenged our ancestors to make use of these assets. The result is a remarkable harmony between the natural setting and architecture.

The castle first mentioned in 1200 was originally owned by the King and later, at the end of the 13th century it fell in hands of Matúš Èák. Its owners alternated - at the end of the 14th century the family of Stibor of Stiborice bought it.

The next owners, the Bánffys who adapted the Gothic castle to the Renaissance residence, improved its fortifications preventing the Turks from conquering it at the end of the 16th century. When Bánffys died out, the castle was owned by several noble families. It fell in decay after fire in 1729.

The history of the castle is the subject of different legends.