Things are really moving along on TMG's National Park Service project at Peirce Mill in Rock Creek Park, where TMG's Peirce Mill Team is entering new realms in the restoration process. It has been a very interesting and challenging project dealing with construction that originally took place in 1829! Through the National Park Service staff and the Friends of Peirce Mill (a group of interested DC citizens involved with preservation of the Mill), they are learning a great deal of history every day, especially in terms of construction means and methods that took place in that time period.
Activities are occurring both inside and out. Despite the wintery weather, they are working on the construction of the new headrace, the path that the river water takes to spin the mill wheel to provide the power to operate the mill's grain grinding stones. A previous restoration in the 1970's re-routed the water supply from Rock Creek to a District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority waterline. Over time, this system was shut down and left inoperable.
Currently, the Team is demolishing the 1970's restoration race and preparing for a new concrete race, one that will use a re-circulating water system. In the removal of the old headrace, they had to save all of the wildlife that had taken refuge in the wheel pit. As of mid-January, 2011, the current tally was four snapping turtles and thousands of native river fish (shad, blue gills, catfish, etc.). TMG has relocated this wildlife to their new home in Rock Creek. After constructing a cast-in-place pump pit, they will be installing two 8" cog pumps that will push re-circulated water past a new mill wheel to bring life back to Mill's interior grain equipment.
In addition to work on the refurbish race, exterior work is also being done on the installation of a new fire suppression system. With the aid of a 70-ton crane, a TMG civil crew has safely executed setting a 10' x 10' fire vault. This fire vault will house a back-flow preventer, as well as other major components, for the new system.
On the Mill's interior, they have just finished up with all the new structural members in the Mill, encompassing new 10x10, 8x8, and 6x6 Hem FIR posts and 14"-18" LVL beams. In the Mill's basement, they furnished and installed new concrete footer piers to take a greater live load. This will allow the Mill to accommodate large groups of visitors, including school-sponsored field trips, to the Mill. Also along these lines, the Team is in the process of installing a new HVAC system and electrical equipment to bring the Mill up to 21st Century standards.
The Team is working side-by-side with Gus Kiorpus, a millwright hired by Fiends of Peirce Mill. Together, they are working on the restoration of the mill equipment, bringing it back to life. According to TMG Construction Engineer, Ben Cozzi, "The work that Gus is doing is breath-taking from a construction stand point. His craftsmanship is a lost art. He is hand making (yes, hand making) all of the restoration items for the mill equipment to help breathe life back into this piece of history." Ben has sent us the attached pictures of the stone cranes that Gus made by hand. These stone cranes are made out of solid oak, and are built to take the weight of the 1000-pound grinding stones.
