Islands in the Stream - Why?

[ChrisB]

Hey,

I've got a question for you denizens of the NH North Country (Peakbagger!)...

On a recent drive along Rt-16 north of Berlin, I noticed that there are fairly small rock islands in the middle of the river. They seem to be man-made and regularly spaced. I wondered what the reason for them might be.

Are they a holdover from log-driving days? Did they keep log jams from forming or help form log jams?

Or, are they some natural phenomonon created by the river?

cb

 

[Bob]

separate logs

IMNSHO- I think They used to be for separating the logs from different logging companies- when they used to do log drives...
nice avatar Chris!

 

[dug]

Boom Piers were used to seperate logs from the different companies.

 

[NH_Mtn_Hiker]

I was told they were for breaking up the ice flows.


Edit: That's why Dave has 3 green squares under his avatar.

 

[David Metsky]

Just north of Berlin, where the boom piers are most obvious, there's a sign describing their history.

link
'nother link

-dave-

 

[ChrisB]

Thanks all. Mystery solved.

Dave, that second link is great! Lots of history!

Thanks,

cb

 

[BrentD22]

Used to live in Berlin

When I was living in Berlin that question drove me crazy. I found someone to answer the the question. They should me some pictures from that time with the river full of logs (trees). It showed a hole bunch of people walking across the river on the logs. It looked crazy.

 

[jjmcgo]

What other North Country rivers have boom piers? I know about the ones at Seven Mile Island in the Kennebec near Augusta. If memory serves, there are also boom piers on the Kennebec above Madison, Me.

 

[Orphic Seth]

Some Pics

Completely by chance, I was flipping through my parent's collection of National Geographic and found one with an article on New Hampshire. As a Granite Stater now-removed, I cracked it open. Dec. 1982 issue, pages 776-777 has a two page picture of the Androscoggin with the islands. The caption even mentions them: "...man-made islets, foreground, channeled log drives in the flush days of virgin forests..."

 

[SherpaKroto]

When I was just a youngster in Berlin I used to head north on the Androscoggin with my grandparents to watch the limberjacks working the logs on the river (only reason I knew what a "cantdog" was . My recollections are somewhat vague, but I do seem to recall that the East side was reserved for Brown Company log runs, while the west side was for Internationl Paper in Rumford. It was amazing to see the brave men working the log jams - makes me imagine what would possess anyone to take this up as a profession! I think the log runs stopped sometime around 1963, and it was not an altogether welcome event by area businesses. I am happy to see that they have chosen to preserve these remnants of a very different past.

 

[jjmcgo]

Cantdog is named for an historical artifact. Boy, I wonder how many people today know what a cant dog is? After SherpaK mentioned it, I had to look it up. A pole with a metal tip and metal hook near the end to move logs around. Also known as a peavey.
Does this mean cantdog gets "peavish" now and then?

 

[Dugan]

Does this mean cantdog gets "peavish" now and then?

Just don't hike with Cantdog in the rain or mud!

 

[SherpaKroto]

Just don't hike with Cantdog in the rain or mud!

Or snore! (sorry Julie - still love ya!)

 

[spencer]

Them thar Peavey's are made just across the river from me. I've enjoyed looking around their shop several times.

and I've used peaveys and cantdogs (they are subtly different beasts - the implements, not the people ) quite a bit.

Perhaps we could have a log decking contest at our next Gathering!?!? Dave, what do you say?

spencer

 

[spencer]

by the way, here is their website.

They have pictures of both peaveys and cant dogs. Peavey wasn't the first to use the tool, he was the first to combine it with a pick pole (used on the river, not the land) to create a cant dog with a spike on the end (hence, the peavey).

Some peaveys also have "dogs" on their back. They are basically thin metal fins that help you roll a log quicker than by using the hook. The dogs we have now on chainsaws are named for these the dogs on peaveys that I just described (albeit, not well). The ones on chainsaws are actually to prevent a log from rolling while bucking it but the dogs on a peavey are to aid in the rolling of a log.

can you tell I love to talk about old logging tools?

spencer

 

[peakbagger]

Sherpa had it pretty close. The entire wood supply to run both the Brown Company Mill and the IP mill in Berlin (not Rumford) for an entire year were cut over the winter and floated down the river in the spring in the log drives. The wood was kept upstream of the mills in the river until it could be pulled out of the water. If you paddle by the boom piers, you can see large chains hanging out of the piles which allowed the logs to be stored in discrete blocks. At some point there was a sorting gap where the logs from each mill were sorted to their respective sides of the river.