The Fairmount Waterworks opened in 1815 as the country’s first major urban water supply system, providing Philadelphia with safe, clean drinking water. Keast & Hood participated in structural stabilization and adaptive reuse of the waterworks in the 1970s.
The Fairmount Waterworks complex was designed by engineer Frederick Graff. It is a National Historic Landmark, a Civil Engineering Landmark, and a National Mechanical Engineering Landmark. It was originally powered by six massive waterwheels located in the Old Mill House, a dressed granite structure on the edge of the Schuylkill River. Later, the Mill House was altered to accommodate the installation of new Jonval turbines. Access to the sub-grade workings of the complex was provided through a group of Greek Revival structures built over the Mill House.
Following stabilization efforts, the adaptive reuse of the Old Mill House entailed replacing the deteriorated deck and below-grade structure with a new cast-in-place concrete structure. Stone masonry walls subject to periodic flooding were stabilized with new concrete buttresses. The work below grade required an elaborate construction sequence with schemes for the temporary shoring, relocation, and restoration of the historic structures above grade.
The Fairmount Waterworks opened in 1815 as the country’s first major urban water supply system, providing Philadelphia with safe, clean drinking water. Keast & Hood participated in structural stabilization and adaptive reuse of the waterworks in the 1970s.
The Fairmount Waterworks complex was designed by engineer Frederick Graff. It is a National Historic Landmark, a Civil Engineering Landmark, and a National Mechanical Engineering Landmark. It was originally powered by six massive waterwheels located in the Old Mill House, a dressed granite structure on the edge of the Schuylkill River. Later, the Mill House was altered to accommodate the installation of new Jonval turbines. Access to the sub-grade workings of the complex was provided through a group of Greek Revival structures built over the Mill House.
Following stabilization efforts, the adaptive reuse of the Old Mill House entailed replacing the deteriorated deck and below-grade structure with a new cast-in-place concrete structure. Stone masonry walls subject to periodic flooding were stabilized with new concrete buttresses. The work below grade required an elaborate construction sequence with schemes for the temporary shoring, relocation, and restoration of the historic structures above grade.
CLIENT: John Milner Associates
LOCATION: Philadelphia, PA
TYPE: Cultural, Historic, SERVICES: MATERIALS: SUSTAINABILITY: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Historic photography © Historic American Engineering Record
