Archimedes screw update - sluice gate arrives.

Last time I brought you up to speed to the point where the screw had arrived (all 8 tonnes of it), and we had successfully negotiated the 1 mile journey from the A36 down the hill across fields and along tracks, to its resting place in the ready-prepared concrete cradle:

Since then, the bearings have been connected up, and a shed built on top of the concrete platform in which the gear mechanism and control unit are housed.  This is seriously solid kit.

 The shed:

You might recall that there was a large tree root which needed to be removed from the mill leet wall before repairs to it could be made.  This was the result (it came out with quite a bit of wall attached - all of which will be reused in some project or other).

The enormous 360 excavator gave the remaining stones a hefty shove back into the hole created by the tree roots.

And then shuttering was applied in order to create a concrete replacement to the top half of this wall, which will withstand attack by fast flowing 'torpedo' tree-roots and such much better than the old stone wall would have done.

More shuttering props are added:

 The results were excellent, and the plan is to tie this into the new beam (look back at previous updates from first weeks of the project) on the weir to give greater strength on the corner by the piles blocking the leet in the image below.

Some significant site tidying went on at this point, and we suffered from our first rain delays.  Fortunately this coincided in part with a delay on the arrival of the all-important sluice gates.  In the image below you can see the sluice gates have been installed finally, and the shed has also received its cladding which tones it down a bit.

We have been astonished at the speed that the entire project has been moving along.  I am touching copious quantities of wood as I write this, but hopefully all will run smoothly for the final fortnight.  Boy, will be pleased to see the project completed - not only because we are excited to generate the electricity, but furthermore because we are experiencing some pretty determined river flows just now, and a flood this month really would set things back!

This was the river taken this morning:

Hydro update (about 2 weeks behind where we really are)

After some weeks, I can update you in pictorial form on the progress of the hydroelectric scheme.  Sorry for the delay during the most exciting phase of the project, but I'm afraid we've had quite a busy time of it down at Iford lately.  Nevertheless, here is the update!

Endless shuttering...

 And this was the shuttering mould (upside down, here, and about half built) for the cradle for the screw itself.

 And then, one Monday morning, the procession arrived:

 The screw weighs about 8 tonnes.

 And it somehow had to go in here:

 There was a tree in the way, but this proved no problem for the enormous crane, which simply lifted the steel screw clean over the top of the tree!

 And, at 22 degrees, or thereabouts, the descent into the trough was achieved.

A second update to follow shortly, to bring you up to date with the most recent fortnight, then they were able to put in the gearing system, build a shed to house all the clever control gear, and prepare for the arrival of the great sluice gates and grille for the front.

Hydro-electric project: weeks 3, 4 & 5

It has been fascinating to watch the speed with which our civil engineers and contractors, Suttle, have been able to undertake the work.  With a '360' excavator and a dumper truck, you can turn a seemingly solid structure into a hole in a matter of days.  Astonishing.


But first, I mentioned before the need to repair the weir, and to include fish and eel ladders.

The bulk of the repairs are now complete (above, week 3, with the concrete beam half-cast), the fish and eel ladders in place, and the concrete beam which raises the river height a little has now been poured (week 4, below):

I'd say it's a work of modernist beauty - and it's not often I compliment concrete.  It was clear to see that the site manager was proud of the result too, which is always a good sign I think.  Here it is with water flowing over it:

Because the team is now into the phase of construction where they will repair the mill leet, they have shuttered the river such that the weir is now taking the full flow.  And doesn't it look spectacular?

And at the downstream level, work has commenced to create the hole for the enormous trough for the archimedean screw (replacing the former eel trap seeing in the last update's images).  Aggregate was brought in to offer a slipway down to the river, and downstream shuttering now holds back the waters.  Here is the 360 about to drive, with earth-shuddering power, a shuttering pile straight through the gravel, into the river bed.  Thankfully there are very few rocks in the river here, so it's fairly easy going (if you are an excavator that is).

And now, the eel trap has been ripped out, and we just have a large hole developing, into which the concrete trough will be cast.

It is proving to be as intriguing and exciting as we had hoped.