Nederland - Lemmer, Woudagemaal

The Ir. D.F. Woudagemaal is the largest, still functioning steam pumping station in the world. The pumping station was opened in 1920 by Queen Wilhelmina. Its job was pumping excess water from the provice of Friesland into the Zuiderzee (later IJsselmeer). In 1966 the pumping station received reinforcement of the electric Hoogland gemaal in Stavoren.

During the winters of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century, large parts of Friesland were flooded. To counter this flooding, it was decided to build a steam pumping station at Lemmer in 1913. The pumping station is named after Ir. Dirk Frederik Wouda, who served as Chief Engineer at the time of the Provincial Public Works and was responsible for the style and performance of the building.

In the huge machine hall there are four steam engines with four powerful flywheels, which are still operational. In 1967, after running on coal for 47 years, the boilers were converted to run on heavy fuel oil.The steam engines and flywheels drive eight centrifugal pumps that move about 6 million m³ of water per day. The Woudagemaal is brought under steam at least twice a year by its owner Wetterskip Fryslân.

The largest steam pumping station in the world still plays a crucial role in the Frisian water authority to this day. When there is a lot of rain or during a persistent storm, the Woudagemaal can be used to help keep the Frisian water at the same level.

The remarkable brick building - inspired by the Amsterdam School style - features clean lines and an austere appearance and has characteristics of Berlage's rationalism, such as the steel rafters, the use of stone, oak, sophisticated colours and decorative edges.

Since 1998, the Woudagemaal has been one of the ten UNESCO World Heritage sites in the Netherlands. Nowadays it is open for visitors.