Steam Pump Named After Leeghwater
Leeghwater was among the first to advocate reclamation of the Haarlemmermeer, a lake whose growth presented a danger to the surrounding towns (several villages were swallowed and even Amsterdam and Leiden were eventually threatened). When this was finally accomplished in 1852, it was with three large steam-driven pumping installations; one at Lijnden, Kaag, and Cruquius. The installation at Kaag, the nl:Gemaal De Leeghwater, built with a steam engine in 1845 to pump water into the Kaag lake, was named after him. The other two men honored in this way were Frans Godard baron van Lynden van Hemmen, who wrote the 1821 book 'Verhandeling over de droogmaking van het Haarlemmermeer' with the 3-way steam pump reclamation plan, and Nicolaas Kruik, who wrote an early "water defence" plan in 1737 using windmills.
Read more about this topic: Jan Leeghwater
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