New Discovery
Posted By The Miller on August 26, 2010
The water is low enough I can see the two holes where the turbines were installed in 1939. Both holes were full of …..crap. One washed out but the other one didn’t. That is because it had been sealed with wood. Possibly …. this turbine was being repaired when the dust explosion happened. Or, it was never installed.
In the second photo you can see it opened up. Darn – there was no box of gold under the wood … just mud and rocks. Now, does it exhaust to the north like the other one? Or does it exhaust to the west?
When we are having a drought I will lower the mill pond (With the gates) and check the dam. Small cracks can become large holes. Kinda like a road – small cracks become a chuck holes. I think …… So, I lowered the mill pond and took the pressure washer out to clean out a crack. Then, I put an epoxy in it to seal the leak. A neighbor stopped by to see what I was doing.
The drought is here. I’m the only one around here that likes a drought.
Dustin (Middle son) came out to visit. So, I put him and his sons (Dylan and Ethan) to work helping to clear the trash rack. Jamie, Dustin’s wife, ran the mill so Karen could come out and help. On the left side of the photo you can see the biggest tree we pulled off the dam. The root ball on the tree was 7 ft. in diameter. They always bring extra cloths when they visit.
The water was low enough to start clearing the logs off of the dam. Dylan (oldest grandson) was hooking the chain to the logs. Then a fisherman, who thought helping us would be more fun, helped chain the logs. It took awhile but we got all the big logs pulled off the dam. Later I cut them into smaller pieces so they will float away when the water comes back up.
This is the biggest flood we have had since the dam was finished. Lots of logs caught on the dam. The undertow is cool and scary. Logs fall over the waterfall and get caught by the undertow where the water hits the bottom. They spin and spin and sometimes flip end over end. Eventually they get away from the dam. Some of the logs actually get broken into smaller pieces before escaping. The reservoir is way over summer pool and as soon as the Wabash River gets back to normal they will start dumping it. I’m afraid it will be sometime before I can clear the dam.
The grand kids and I like to participate in the parade at the Rosedale Strawberry Festival (Small town down the creek). I drive the truck and they throw candy. There was a lot of empty wrappers in the truck??????
Took this photo today. I can’t stop looking at the waterfall and the mill pond. Fifteen years of dreaming and it has come true. What a wonderful country.
I’m sure the dam will hold ….. but, you never know. All went well and a few trees went over the dam. Two got stuck on my deflector log. I plan to improve the deflector log. More and more of the tail race is washing out. All is good.
The old furrows (Grooves from center to outer edge) were getting too wide due to years of dressing (Sharpening). So, I had to remove about 1/4 in. from the face of each stone. Then, cut new furrows. I used diamond blades and it took 3 weeks (It is fresh water quartz – harder than glass).