Woudagemaal, A Dutch Steam Powered World Heritage Site

Introduction

On 10th May 2014 I visited Woudagemaal, a steam powered pumping station near the town of Lemmer in the Netherlands.

The plant was built in 1920 to pump water out of under sea level areas in the Friesland province; its original boilers were changed in 1955 and from 1967 it switched from coal to oil as fuel but, apart for these changes, it remains in original condition to this day. Since 1998 it has been a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The machine room of Woudagemaal from the outside.	The immaculate interior

Today it is primarily a museum, open to visitors daily but it is steamed twice a year for training because it must be ready for use to augment the pumping capacity of modern stations when exceptional weather conditions threaten flooding the surrounding area. I didn’t try but I think that asking and obtaining the steaming dates would be quite easy (The easiest way to find out about routine test steamings is to become a friend of the museum via the website. Otherwise just wait for exceptional rainfall in central Europe and then start asking! RD.).

Here is the link to their official website: http://www.woudagemaal.nl/. 

The Visit

The visit starts in a visitor centre adjacent to the plant where the historical and geographical context is illustrated including a 3D film showing the plant in action. Then, escorted by an employee, you are shown around the plant starting outside near the smokestack and coal docks (all fuel supplies were and still are brought in from the sea).

From there the group is taken into the boiler room where the four 1955 Werkspoor built boilers are. This also contains a diesel generator for the auxiliaries and a steam driven lubrication pump.

Two of the four boilers of Woudagemaal with  the auxiliary diesel engine on the left.	Boiler no.2 with inspection hatch open, note the Werkspoor monogram on the right.

Part of the auxiliaries, including a duplex (boiler feedwater?) pump

Next you can enter the machine room containing four pumping units composed of tandem compound cylinder driving two rotary water pumps; there are two condensers as well each serving two cylinders, all supplied by Jaffa (for more technical information, please see http://www.stoommachine.info/woudagemaal.html).(Link broken by December 2023. RD)

The decorative tiles on the walls and the oakwood built offices are also noteworthy.

The main engine hall

Jaffa condenser

Jaffa tandem compound engine with drop valves