32 foot diameter water wheel on grounds of the Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site located in Elverson, PA. Iron production at Hopewell Furnace required a blast of air to bring the heat of the furnace above 2800 degrees (Fahrenheit). The water wheel supplied the power for this air blast by pumping a pair of pistons inside two blowing tubs. Compressed air moved from the blowing tubs into a receiving box between the tubs, and then through a long pipe to enter the furnace through the tuyere, a cone-shaped nozzle attached to the end of the pipe. The water wheel at Hopewell Furnace has a long sorted history which you can read about on this page.
From my Monday, 9-7-2009 trip to Hopewell National Historic Site.
For more information on visiting Hopewell Furnace, please visit their web site
This was shot as nine bracketed RAW frames then combined into an HDR and tone mapped in Photomatix Pro with some extra work done in Topaz Adjust to bring out the wood texture.
