BSC Hydro Project Update

Published 15:54 on 28 Feb 2023

BSC Hydro Project

First Working Weekend 11th & 12th February 2023

A 16 strong team of volunteers turned out for the first working weekend of the Mill project. Very many thanks to all involved for labouring so hard in such wet and muddy conditions.

Over the two days the team achieved the following:

- Shifted over four-tonnes of mud, silt and debris away from within and around the upstream wheel and its buckets

- Shifted another three tonnes from beneath the downstream wheel.

- High pressure water blasted a significant amount of encrustation and accretion from both wheels, exposing their condition and structure.

In addition, Howard Mackenzie-Wilson took precise measurements of the upstream wheel and managed to remove a score or so of the bolt heads holding buckets and sole plates onto the cast iron shroud plates.

A quick count indicates that there only about 1,500 more bolt heads to go!

NB Huge thanks to Paddy and Duncan for their welcome supply of pastries & hot coffee, and to Rosellen Mates for her delicious supercharged brownies, all of which amply sustained and kept up the team's blood sugar levels over the weekend.

Next steps:

A follow-up work weekend with a small team is planned for March to carry out the following tasks:

- Completely remove one of the buckets on the small wheel to establish the dimensions and specification.

- Power hose the debris below the small wheel to discover the condition of the base area.

Once this work has been completed, Howard is confident that he can produce accurate engineering drawings of the upstream wheel which will form the basis of the tender specification for the restoration work.

Summary:

The weekend has given the team a much clearer picture of the size of the challenges that lay ahead. It has certainly helped give a better understanding of the various options that present themselves particularly relating to craning the wheels out intact for repair offsite working with contractor or for repairing them piece by piece on site largely using our own labour.

Last updated 11:51 on 12 March 2024