Leemans pumping station, Wieringermeer

The reclamation of the Wieringermeer between 1927 and 1930 was the first major project of the Zuiderzee Works, and the whole world knew it. The Lely pumping station was – and still is – more eye-catching, but more than ninety years later, the Leemans pumping station has become the most important pumping station in the Wieringermeer.

When the Zuiderzee Works began in 1927, many Dutch people felt that such an important project deserved attractive surroundings. The technically necessary feats of hydraulic engineering had to be complemented by appropriate and dignified architecture. It was therefore important that the two pumping stations of the Wieringermeer stood out in the landscape, as an expression of the 'fundamental importance of drainage for the existence of the polder', as one hydraulic engineer put it.

The design of the Lely and Leemans pumping stations was entrusted to Dirk Roosenburg (1887-1962), an influential architect who designed buildings for companies such as Philips, Stork, and KLM, as well as for the Rijksoverheid. Many of the buildings he designed are now listed as national monuments. From the 1920s onwards, he was also an aesthetic advisor to Rijkswaterstaat (the Dutch Department of Waterways and Public Works) and the Zuiderzee Works, which meant that he ensured that the necessary technical works were not only useful but also attractive.

In 1927, Roosenburg was asked to design the drainage sluices in the Afsluitdijk and the pumping stations of the Wieringermeer. Both Lely and Leemans were built of white-painted reinforced concrete and featured sleek, angular architecture. The design of the pumping stations was in line with the industrial architecture of the time, based on the idea of 'New Objectivity' or functional building, in which form was considered to follow function. The Lely pumping station also had a large transformer station on the second floor and rises above the polder; Leemans was only a pumping station and, as an elongated building, blended in with the dike next to it. Its length was also emphasized by the gently sloping gable roof covered with red tiles.

The pumping station was built in a basin: only the entrance, the windows, and the roof rose above the water level. Whereas Lely ran on electricity, Leemans was deliberately equipped with two diesel engines, so that if the electricity failed or there was a shortage of diesel, pumping could still continue. Three diesel tanks were erected next to the pumping station so that there would be enough fuel in case of an emergency. The diesel engines were supplied by the famous Amsterdam machine factory Werkspoor and each drove a centrifugal pump.

The pumping station was named after engineer Wilhelmus François Leemans (1841-1929), former chief inspector general or administrative head of Rijkswaterstaat between 1903 and 1906. He had been involved in plans to reclaim parts of the Zuiderzee since 1870 and became chairman of the Zuiderzee Association in 1901. The association existed from 1886 to 1949 and had set itself the task of initiating a national movement for land reclamation in the Zuiderzee – with success. After the Zuiderzee Act was passed in 1918, Leemans was appointed a member of the Zuiderzee Council, an advisory committee to the government that existed until 1969.

Leemans and Lely were put into operation simultaneously on February 10, 1930, and began draining the Wieringermeer. Each pump could discharge 250 cubic metre per minute. Space had been reserved for a third pump, but it was never installed. Two main water supply channels from the Wieringermeer flow into Leemans. Together, Lely and Leemans could discharge 1,700 cubic metre per minute. The pumping stations drained the polder in six months. On August 21, 1930, the new polder was dry.

Leemans and Lely drained the Wieringermeer not once, but twice. On April 17, 1945, the German occupying forces blew up the Wieringermeer dike to prevent Allied airborne landings in the polder. The more than 7,000 residents and approximately 1,000 people in hiding had to flee in a hurry. After liberation, work began quickly to repair the dike, which was closed on August 5. Between August 9 and December 11, Leemans and Lely, together with a few quickly installed emergency pumping stations, drained the polder again. Fortunately, it was fresh water, so a year later there was another good harvest.

One of the biggest hydraulic engineering problems facing the low-lying Wieringermeer is the nuisance caused by saltwater seepage. This is salt water that lies beneath the IJsselmeer and is pushed up into the Wieringermeer by the weight of the IJsselmeer water. Because Leemans and Lely both drained into the IJsselmeer, 800,000 tons of salt ended up in the IJsselmeer every year. Between 1994 and 1997, Leemans was therefore converted into a main pumping station that discharges the polder water, which has been salinated by the seepage, into the Wadden Sea through a drainage pipe. In addition, Leemans also discharges all excess water after heavy rainfall. Lely only comes into operation when there is a threat of flooding, for example.

In addition, the two diesel engines were replaced by four electric motors, each of which drives a centrifugal pump. Together, they can pump 1,500 cubic metre per minute. Every year, more than 150 million cubic metre must be pumped out of the polder to keep the Wieringermeer dry. In 2021, the pumping station underwent another major renovation: the concrete work was renovated, the electrical wiring was replaced, and various parts of the pumping system were refurbished. Much of it had been damaged by the salt water, but Leemans is now ready for another quarter of a century of keeping the Wieringermeer dry and fresh every day.

Extra

The Leemans pumping station is located along several cycling routes, such as the Medemblik-Workum section of the Zuiderzee Route.

Anyone walking the Wieringerrandroute will also pass the pumping station.