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Netherlands

South Holland

Leerdam

Steam Pumping Station De Oude Horn – Zuidwal Leerdam loop from Leerdam

Routes

Hiking trails & Routes

Netherlands

South Holland

Leerdam

Steam Pumping Station De Oude Horn – Zuidwal Leerdam loop from Leerdam

Easy

4.4

(26)

100

hikers

Steam Pumping Station De Oude Horn – Zuidwal Leerdam loop from Leerdam

01:49

7.20km

10m

Hiking

Easy hike. Great for any fitness level. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels. The starting point of the route is right next to a parking lot.

Last updated: June 19, 2026

Tips

Includes a movable bridge

Check opening times.

After 1.82 km for 10 m

Waypoints

Start point

Parking

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122 m

Kaatjes Theetuin

Highlight • Cafe

Take a seat on one of the cozy seats in the beautiful garden of Kaatjes Theetuin and relax during your bike ride or walk through the area around Leerdam. Just outside the hustle and bustle of the city, you will find rural tranquility here.
Source and more information: kaatjestheetuin.nl

A cozy garden with lots of nice trinkets where you can also feast your eyes.

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127 m

Steam Pumping Station De Oude Horn

Highlight • Monument

In 1787, the De Horn lock became part of the Old Dutch Waterline. The Old Dutch Waterline could make the land impassable for an army and unnavigable for ships with a depth of approximately 30 by 50 centimetres. With the arrival of the New Dutch Waterline in 1815, the function of the lock was taken over by the locks at Fort bij Asperen.

Glassworks
The former steam pumping station was built in 1857 and was put into use as a traditional glassworks by Willem Heesen from 1977. Since 1982, his son, Bernard Heesen, has been working daily at Glassworks De Oude Horn.

Source and more information: bezoeklekenlinge.nl

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1.86 km

Zuidwal Leerdam

Highlight • Historical Site

Until 1870 Leerdam was completely moated, walled and walled. Only the Zuidwal remains. The small mouse towers are special. These are small tower houses built in 1738. Today, these towers are still inhabited or in use by, for example, a cafe.

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3.27 km

Galgenwiel

Highlight • Lake

the Gallows Wheel, a large puddle formed after a dike breach by drifting ice.

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5.16 km

Linge Lock at Fort Asperen

Highlight • Monument

The Lingesluis at Fort Asperen is located in a historical and natural area where the river Linge and the old fort meet. This lock plays a role in the water management of the region and offers an atmospheric place with a view of the fort and the surrounding green landscape.

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5.51 km

Fan sluices at Asperen (New Dutch Waterline)

Highlight • Monument

At Asperen there is a special lock complex in the river Linge that was of crucial importance for the New Dutch Waterline. In the event of a threat of war, the two inlet or 'inundation locks' in the two Linge dikes could carry the water supplied via that river to the surrounding polder area and flood it (inundation). In that case, the two weir locks in the river were closed, so that the water was pushed up high to the east of the Diefdijk Line. The closure was done with so-called bulkhead beams, which formed a sheet pile wall on top of each other. Next to these locks are still the old storage places for these beams.
The double inundation locks or fan locks, the doors of which together form a kind of fan, are special because they can even turn against high water and can also be closed in running water. Yet only one man is needed to operate the huge colossus. When the locks are closed for a long period of time, a double row of stacked bulkhead beams in each lock acts as a sheet pile wall.
In times of peace, the usually closed and now beautifully restored fan sluices came and do come in handy in the opposite sense: in the event of flooding, the bulkhead beams come out and drain excess water to the Linge.

The weir locks are located just southeast of Asperen at the spot where the Meerdijk changes into the Nieuwe Zuiderlingedijk. These dikes are part of the Diefdijk Line that marks the border between South Holland and Gelderland. The polders to the east of this 23-kilometre long line would disappear under water in the event of a threat of war in order to stop the enemy. Where the Linge intersected the line, a dam was constructed in the river, with first one and later two weir locks. These had to close the opening in the line in case of emergency.
The inundation sluices are located a little further south on both sides of the river, in the Zuider- and Noorderlingedijk. Two forts were built to protect these important military waterworks: Fort Asperen near the eastern one and the Wapenplaats near the western lock.
In the vicinity there are several concrete group shelters from different periods, along the Meerdijk there are battery shelters from 1905. There are also remains of a single machine gun casemate, intended for extra defense of the lock complex.

The two fan locks were built in 1815, at the start of the first construction period of the New Dutch Waterline. The innovative design was by hydraulic engineer Jan Blanken. In the same year, three more examples were constructed within the New Dutch Waterline, at Werk aan het Spoel, Werk aan de Bakkerskil and Vesting Woudrichem.
Improvements were made to the locks in 1882. In any case, repair was regularly necessary, because of the destructive effect of the water on the originally wooden lock gates.
Flooding large areas of land could take up to four or five weeks. With the rapidly advancing weapon technology, that would not suffice for long. That is why later in the nineteenth century inundation canals were dug here and there. One of them ran from Tiel to Wadenoijen. This canal accelerated the flow of water from the Waal via the Linge and the sluices at Asperen to the polders east of the Diefdijk Line.
In April 1940, when the Germans attacked Denmark and Norway, the locks at Fort Asperen were opened. However, the water line turned out to be obsolete due to the use of aircraft and paratroopers. At the end of the war, it was the Germans who opened the lock again in the hope of a safe retreat.

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