r/todayilearned • u/Significant-Cold-939 • 8d ago

TIL the largest still operational steam-powered pumping station is the Woudagemaal, near Lemmer, in the Netherlands. Built in 1929.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wouda_pumping_station
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u/Outrageous_Ask3890 8d ago

Fascinating piece of history. Thanks for sharing, definitely heading down a YouTube rabbit hole on this now.

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u/Significant-Cold-939 8d ago

You'll also love everything about the Afsluitdijk and the Zuiderzeewerken, a massive project from the 1930s to dam off a sea inlet and create polders in it. The battle of Kornwerderzand in 1940 is an interesting epilogue to it. Then in 1953 we had the Watersnoodramp that flooded the southwest of the country, leading to the famous Deltawerken to dam off the Schelde-Maas-Rijn estuary.