Keller Engineering Associates Inc. - Project Highlights - St. Raphael Ruins

Martintown Grist Mill, Martintown, Ontario

Description:
The Martintown Grist Mill is a stone masonry structure built about 1846 along the east bank of the Raisin River in the village of Martintown. The mill represents a typical example of grist mills of that period, all too few of which have survived to the present. The mill was constructed with 3 levels with about 390m2 of floor space per level. The original basement floor structure no longer exists and a rough mud and rock surface now remains. The walls were constructed of grey fosil-bearing local limestone and ranged in thickness from 500mm at upper levels to about 800mm by the foundation. All frames were made of rough-cut timber

Work Performed:
Initial temporary stabilization was begun in the spring of 1982 in fear that the badly deteriorated mill would not survive the river run-off of that spring. In 1986, a ten year stability plan was put into place where the basic concept of the stabilization approach included:

Tying the walls together through a series of bands composed of tie rods located along the perimeter of the mill at each floor level

Providing additional tie rods at floor levels to stiffen walls

Stabilizing interior vertical support by positively founding basement column supports on concrete piers

Stabilizing the west wall by partially rebuilding the masonry of the wall

As of 1996, the structure was still stable and substantially unchanged. Finally, in 2004, the basement and ground floors were opened to the public.

© Keller Engineering Associates Inc.