kenb
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Crews dredge up dam from the 1870's
I'd love to detect around this!
Crews dredge up 1870s dam
Structure uncovered in San Antonio during River Walk project
12:00 AM CST on Wednesday, February 13, 2008
SAN ANTONIO – Construction crews dredging a section of the San Antonio River found a forgotten dam built in the 1870s.
JERRY LARA/The Associated Press
Project managers haven't figured out yet how to incorporate the forgotten damn in the River Walk extension, but first, it must be fully excavated.The limestone structure was found embedded in the muddy silt that is being removed as part of a project that will extend the River Walk 13 miles, upriver and downriver from the current development.
Project managers hope to incorporate the abandoned dam in the riverfront park that will connect Brackenridge Park north of downtown to the restaurants and retail on the existing River Walk.
"The best we can figure, it's been covered and forgotten for about 100 years," said Mark Sorenson, project manager for the San Antonio River Authority. "So it is kind of cool uncovering something like this and trying to incorporate it into the project."
The dam was built with cut rocks weighing as much as 1,500 pounds each. Stretching 120 feet across the old river channel, the dam was cut at some point to allow water to flow over it.
"It is amazing," said Boone Powell, project architect, surveying the dam. "This is probably the best-built dam the river has ever seen."
Project archaeologist Steve A. Tomka found a 1904 map that shows the dam and a channel that carried the water to the old Alamo Mill for electric power.
The mill processed grain in the 1870s for about 20 years.
Lewis Fisher, president of Maverick Publishing and author of River Walk, the Epic Story of San Antonio's River, said the stones look like the rocks used in the late 1800s.
It's not clear when they were cut to allow water flow, but Mr. Fisher said during the 1950s, many flood control projects were used to straighten the meandering river channel, and they may have been cut then.
"In the 1950s, people didn't feel the way about archaeology that we do today," he said.
Project officials have not yet decided how the dam will be incorporated in the River Walk extension, but first, it must be fully excavated. Construction crews will also excavate the bank north of the dam to look for evidence of the old channel that carried water to the mill.
kenb
I'd love to detect around this!
Crews dredge up 1870s dam
Structure uncovered in San Antonio during River Walk project
12:00 AM CST on Wednesday, February 13, 2008
SAN ANTONIO – Construction crews dredging a section of the San Antonio River found a forgotten dam built in the 1870s.
JERRY LARA/The Associated Press
Project managers haven't figured out yet how to incorporate the forgotten damn in the River Walk extension, but first, it must be fully excavated.The limestone structure was found embedded in the muddy silt that is being removed as part of a project that will extend the River Walk 13 miles, upriver and downriver from the current development.
Project managers hope to incorporate the abandoned dam in the riverfront park that will connect Brackenridge Park north of downtown to the restaurants and retail on the existing River Walk.
"The best we can figure, it's been covered and forgotten for about 100 years," said Mark Sorenson, project manager for the San Antonio River Authority. "So it is kind of cool uncovering something like this and trying to incorporate it into the project."
The dam was built with cut rocks weighing as much as 1,500 pounds each. Stretching 120 feet across the old river channel, the dam was cut at some point to allow water to flow over it.
"It is amazing," said Boone Powell, project architect, surveying the dam. "This is probably the best-built dam the river has ever seen."
Project archaeologist Steve A. Tomka found a 1904 map that shows the dam and a channel that carried the water to the old Alamo Mill for electric power.
The mill processed grain in the 1870s for about 20 years.
Lewis Fisher, president of Maverick Publishing and author of River Walk, the Epic Story of San Antonio's River, said the stones look like the rocks used in the late 1800s.
It's not clear when they were cut to allow water flow, but Mr. Fisher said during the 1950s, many flood control projects were used to straighten the meandering river channel, and they may have been cut then.
"In the 1950s, people didn't feel the way about archaeology that we do today," he said.
Project officials have not yet decided how the dam will be incorporated in the River Walk extension, but first, it must be fully excavated. Construction crews will also excavate the bank north of the dam to look for evidence of the old channel that carried water to the mill.
kenb
