Specialists in Water Management for Landscapes, Fisheries, Leisure and Conservation
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Case study 7. Water Wheel Restoration |
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Early fabrication |
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Loading the wheel for transport |
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Constructing the green oak flume |
Client:
Private Client (L. A. Tom Stuart Smith)Location: Oxford
Dscription of Contract:
On a site visit to discuss other works we spotted a pile of rusty metal components in the corner of a shed, they looked like part of a Victorian cast iron waterwheel.
Eventually we collected the components, blast cleaned them, and made patterns for a local foundry to make new cast iron pieces poured into sand moulds.
The main shaft was machined to imperial sizes from metric stock bar and fitted to the main wheel hubs, new bearings and plummer blocks carried the shaft, which in turn were mounted on oak blocks.
The wheel was reconstructed using a mixture of old and new components, painted and sealed using modern materials and then transported to site to be mounted at the end of a green oak flume leading from the reservoir that we had originally gone to site to look at.
The new waterwheel is now turning and providing a focal point within the arboretum.
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Lowering the wheel into position |
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The completed project |