Former Eastern Schelde pumping station - Poortvliet

It is clear that Zeeland has always been connected to water. Throughout history, several storm surges played out, for which the Delta Plan was devised. But 'inland water' also regularly caused problems.

You are standing here at former pumping station Oosterschelde. The pumping station was built in 1910; after 17 years of faithful service, it was shut down and used as a residence. Now it is even a national monument. With the advent of electric pumping stations, it was no longer needed. On the waters of the Oosterschelde estuary, this is a unique structure.

A fish passage is also active at this pumping station. Fish from the North Sea that normally lay eggs inland could no longer pass easily with all the dykes and sluices. At the fish passage, these fish end up in a tank which then ends up on the other side of the dike. Sometimes as many as 1,200 glass eels cross in 1 night.

Photo: By Niek Perdaems - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 nl, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27972069