Named for Hendrik Wortman, a civil engineer who contributed to the Zuiderzee Works, the station was designed by Dirk Roosenburg and completed in 1956.

[1] It consists of a series of blocks, built atop a concrete substructure that contains the suction and pressure shafts.

[3] Fuel for the engines was originally stored aboveground; a subterranean storage facility has since been installed northeast of the station.

[2] It is named after Hendrik Wortman, a Dutch civil engineer who contributed to the Zuiderzee Works[4] and later chaired its council.

[3] The Lelystad dyke was closed on 13 September 1956; later that day, Queen Juliana officially declared the commencement of operations at the Wortman Pumping Station.

[3] On 17 November, two of the initial three pumps began operations, with drainage taking place eighteen hours per day.

[8] The area around the Wortman Pumping Station, which was covered in the deepest water, remained swampy after this declaration.

[9] In 2017, Lelystad declared the Wortman Pumping Station a municipal monument as part of the Werkeiland.