Mill D

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Our chosen entrance to the Mill D complex deposits us on the lowest (full) level of the mill. This level of the mill contains troughs dug into the floor, mainly near the creek, but going all over the building, that lead to two wells containing sump pumps. There is certainly no power to the pumps now, and although the wells contained some water, the troughs were dry. Given the proximity of the building to the creek, this is probably not the case when the water level is higher. Mill D is constructed in the fashion of a "walkout basement" -- the level at which we enter is at the ground level on this side of the mill, but if you walk straight through this door across to the other side of the mill, you will be approximately one story below ground.

 

Having moved across the catwalk but not yet into the building, one can see that the area between Mill D and the creek is pretty cluttered with pipes, valves and conduits.

 

A device known as a Beater greets entrants to the mill.

Water and chemicals are poured into a beater, then bales or sheets of pulp are added and mixed into a pulp slurry through the action of that large.... thing. (It is rotated by a big motor).

 

I think the beater looks pretty cool. In one of the small power substations on the factory grounds, a label references the "200-ton Beater in Mill D", although I doubt that this is the unit being discussed there.

 

Pipes 'n stuff.

 

Correction: Most of the troughs are dry. This one obviously is not.

 

It looks to me like part of an automatic transmission on a car. People do sometimes junk stuff in here, so perhaps it is, or perhaps it isn't.

 

One medium sized tank with ladder, which did not get climbed.

 

As we take a quick peek at the other side (the side by the Powerhouse) of the mill, things get more and more messy.

 

A bit towards the front of the mill from the beater is one of the sump pumps. As you can see from the position of the float, if the mill had power, the pump would be on.

 

Although there is much more building towards the rear of the mill from where we entered, it was pretty dark back there, and so we did not visit it on this trip. The ramp above leads to the front section of Mill D.

 

Proceed to the ground floor front end of Mill D.