Ca' Vendramin Regional Land Reclamation Museum

The dewatering pumps, an essential instrument for mechanized reclamation activity, represent today wonderful examples of industrial archaeology; among them, the dewatering pump system of Ca' Vendramin is without a doubt the most significant one in the Delta area.

The works, begun in 1900, ended in 1903 and were tested in 1905.
The territory of Ariano island was divided into two basins: upper and lower.
The function of the dewatering pumps of Ca' Vendramin was to lift the waters of the upper basin and lead them into canale Veneto (outlet) which carried them near the mouth of Po di Goro and then, through a system of "Porte Vinciane", to the sea.
The dewatering pump was planned considering the difference in height between the surface of the water of the outlet and the surface of the channel leading to the dewatering pump of 1,128 m when the tide is in normal conditions and of 1,705 m when the tide is stormy. Four pumps were installed: they could lift a total of 11,000 liters/second, with steam engines working thanks to coal burning.
Subsequently, in 1921 the station became partially electric, while a turbine fed two small dewatering pumps situated at 4,700 m from the main dewatering pump: they were used to drain the lower basin.
The dewatering pump system of Ca' Vendramin worked until the devastating floods of Po di Goro in 1957 and 1960, after which, also as a consequence of the subsidence phenomenon, the hydraulic system of the territory was completely upset.