That dredge site near the old mill pond was way cleaner than I expected

I stopped by the Johnsonville site last Tuesday to check on a job my crew did about 6 months back. Everyone online always says those old mill ponds are full of trash and silt that'll gum up your cutterhead in no time. But honestly, the water was clear enough I could see the bottom in spots, and the material we pulled up was mostly fine sand with a few rocks. No big surprises. Sure the current's tricky near the dam spillway, but I think people blow the cleanup factor way out of proportion. Has anyone else had a similar experience at an old mill site, or did I just get lucky?

2 comments

2 Comments

dakota_murphy901mo ago

Oh man, that surprises me but in a good way! Were you dredging near the inlet or closer to the dam where the old wheelhouse used to be? I've heard the sand gets finer the further you go from the spillway cause it settles out different. Did your crew have to deal with any hidden debris like old bricks or machinery parts that got washed in over the years?

piper_flores691mo ago

That right there is exactly what I was thinking when I read your first post! We were actually working closer to the dam where that old wheelhouse sat, and you're spot on about the sand being finer. The material near the inlet was coarser and had more little rocks mixed in, but once you got past a certain point it turned into this nice silty sand that was a dream to move compared to the other stuff. And yeah, we ran into all kinds of hidden junk - pulled up a rusted out piece of an old pump housing and a bunch of bricks that must have been part of the foundation at some point. The worst was a tangled mess of rebar that wrapped around the cutter head and took us half a shift to clear out.