Fullersburg Woods

Foundation Mechanics provided improvements to the park and machinery at the Graue Mill and Museum, located within the Fullersburg Woods in Oak Brook, Illinois. Much of the work involved motorizing a wooden water wheel that was originally constructed in the 1800s.

The architect’s vision was to give visitors the appearance that the natural water flow of the creek turns the water wheel. Foundation Mechanics needed to design a motorized apparatus that could turn the wheel while also maintaining its original structural components.

Our team modeled several different configurations for the water wheel apparatus, then installed a concealed motor to rotate the wheel. We also salvaged, cleaned, and reused 100-year-old masonry blocks in the mill race to maintain the Graue Mill’s historic look.