One of the joys of being a work-at-home mom is that when events show up in my news feed, I can drop everything and go on an adventure. This happened with the cathedral dome rising back in March of 2016. I showed up with a small crowd of onlookers and got to witness the placement of a copper dome that would outlive generations to come. Yesterday I saw a post about the demolition of the historic Milburnie Dam on the Neuse River. A fellow onlooker told me that as the workers dug down into the backfill of the dam, there were large stones from an old mill that was burned down during Sherman’s March to the Sea. I absolutely get giddy about witnessing changing landscapes through engineering feats and seeing that my own life is but a gasp of air on the temporal landscape. I debated pulling the kids out of school early, but waited to bring them back with me after pickup.
This picture of the emergency spillway and dam was taken from a sandy beach downstream of the dam.
The water level had been lowered prior to the demolition.
Looking downstream at the dam, you could see the trucks sitting on the backfill and sediment deposits.
In this downstream view, the pedestrian bridge is visible.
I believe this is the trash rack of the emergency spillway.
This is looking upstream at the dam.
This is one of the floodplain wetlands on the Knightdale side of the river.
The greenway was open!
There was a sediment plume as the wall started coming down layer by layer.
Sticky muck and big trucks
We stayed out of the preservation area.
Throwing rocks never ceases to entertain.
Blocks from the dam.
A kind stranger offered to let me jump in the picture with the boys.
