Bridgeton Mill

Karen decorated the walkway for the Covered Bridge Festival.  Well …..  it was her idea.  You can see the headrace is full of water.

Isaac Roe (nephew) helped to build the trash rack  The creek filled with water during a rain and we had to quit for awhile.  You can see how high it was by the dirty boards.  When it went back down we diverted the water again and finished the work. Now,  we are ready for the…

Ethan wanted to look under the mill while the water was shut off. We saw a few things I hadn’t seen before.  This hole is in the turbine pit.  One of the original turbines sat here.  Ethan wanted to jump into it.  I told him … “NO”.  It is probably only 3 ft. deep but…

Ethan (Grandson – age 10) drilling holes in the spacers for the trashrack.

Karen and I are starting the trash rack.  We diverted the water through the washout gate so we could work.  The first trash rack I built for the washout gate was made of treated wood.  The beavers liked the salt in the wood and were eating it.  So, this one is made of white oak. …

Jacob (Grandson age 3) helped open up the walkway door.  The millers would go out this door to rake the trash off the trash rack.  It was boarded up and nailed shut.  The old door was pretty rotten so I built a new one.

Spring 2009 Dylan and Dustiin (Grandson and Son) helped build the walkway over the headrace.

I bought a 2 ton chain hoist to open the big gate.  The gate only weighs about 500 lbs. … however when the forebay or headrace is full of water there will be a lot of force pushing against the gate.  I designed the system so the hoist and controls would be indoors.  The exterior…

After several months of water moving through the unplugged channel it is wider and deeper.  I hope to double it’s width and find the bedrock bottom (If there is one).

After lots of log hunting … the water is moving.