Old, large pipe system at Nanaimo River

[riverrat]

Does anyone know what this would be from?
You can see how the pipe comes out of a concrete structure and runs down a slope into the water (not sure if it was drawing water from the river for some industrial purpose?)

[MDavis]

Considering how sturdily this is mounted (on top of concrete with various hold-downs) it must had been an intake pipe, rather than a drain outlet. Just my guess.

Where on the river is this, in a old mining area, by any chance?

[riverrat]

It's about 1.5 km upstream from Nanaimo Lakes Rd.
That's a good point, about the sturdiness of the mounting indicating this might have been an intake pipe.
Maybe this summer I can get more photos.

[yellowpoint89]

I know this place. I usually go swimming there in the summer and I've always wondered what all the piping/concrete structure was. There's quite a bit of black soil/dust around what appears to be a foundation of some sort of building, and according to the mine atlas there is a mine in the vicinity ( I dont recall which one at the moment I just remember looking at it). My first guess would be something to do with a wash plant?

Cheers

[Just A #]

Look downstream from where you took the photo... You will see the remains of a railway bridge. Note: the dirt road that you cross on your way down to the river is an old railway grade; and there is a gully cut into the bank across from the bridge remains that has a few standing remains of the wooden tressel.

...so where am I going with this? Judging by the age of the deteriated bridge, I'd say it was from the steam locomotive logging era. Steam locomotives need water filling stations, so there was probably a pump house on that square foundation.

[riverrat]

Thanks for the great info -- that makes a lot of sense! And yes, I've also been in that gully you mentioned. It's very distinctly man-made, and has some artifacts (bits of wood mostly), but is otherwise very much reclaimed by the forest. It is a very cool place to check out. (I should get into the tour business.)

In case it's interesting for you, here are some more photos, which I took on a return trip back in May of this year.









Here, you can see the form of the concrete inside the pump house:






These two pipes are sticking out of the ground behind the foundation:




As Just A # said, these old rail trestles (what's left of them) are about 50-100 meters downstream:

[Just A #]

Thanks for the pictures. The part of the river that you have shown is one of my favourite places to swim, albeit, not at the time of season you took those photos (looks cold and swift!!!)

This spot used to be quiet and mostly undiscovered enough that one could skinnydip without having to keep an eye/ear out for oncommers. That all changed three (?) summers ago when Nanaimo had the week long stretch of 30+ temperatures. Even the lightly visited areas where discovered by the throngs of new people looking for relief! The trash and yahoos that accompanied the throngs of new people is what likely prompted the person who spray painted the "Cherish and Respect" message.