Karl Acimovic - Independent Consulting Engineer presents: Historic Small Dams and Waterways of Sout

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  • Date & time 6p – 7p, 04/14/2016
  • Description Consulting Engineer, Karl Asimovic will present Connecticut’s Historic Small Waterways and Dams: 1600-1800 on Thursday, April 14 at 6 pm on behalf of the Stonington Historical Society. The timely topic will focus on the deteriorating small mill dams so prevalent in eastern Connecticut and will include historical aspects as they relate to their mill sites along rural streams, the most common historic functions being sawmills and gristmills. Most of these mills are obsolete if not long gone and the deteriorating condition of their dams has made the restoration or repairs cost prohibitive. Karl Asimovic is an independent consulting engineer who has worked on historic dams and waterways throughout Connecticut including sites in Preston, Waterford, Montville, North Stonington, and Ledyard. There is a current, coordinated effort among local, state, and federal agencies, including the Nature Conservancy, aimed at removing these historic dams for environmental reasons, flood control, and the restoration of native species habitats. Recent local projects have included the demolition of the White Rock Dam on the Pawcatuck River and the removal of the Hyde Pond Dam that sits at the juncture of Stonington, Ledyard, and Groton and feeds into Whitford Brook and the Mystic River. A video of this local project was posted on YouTube by Save the Sound and can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7YNOob14sY The most recognizable and iconic local dam site is Deans Mill – now home to the Mystic branch of the Aquarion Water Company and bearing no semblance of its former life. This site once housed an entire complex of mills owned and operated by the Dean family including a grist mill and two fulling mills. The historic dam stood much further back than its current location and the surrounding grounds were used for outings and picnics until 1922.
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    La Grua Center

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