Boott Dam
Beneath the gatehouse to your left is a dam that controls the level of water in the Eastern canal. When the water is high, the excess spills into the Merrimack Wasteway and returns to the Merrimack River.
Booth Penstock
Built in 1846, this tunnel diverts water from the Merrimack Canal to the Eastern Canal directly below you. Because the water currents in the penstock and the Eastern Canal flow in opposite directions, engineers built the channel in front of you to prevent turbulence. Underwater openings in the channel wall allow for the smoother joining of opposite currents. Without this channel, turbulence would have robbed the flowing water of its power to turn mill wheels and turbines.
Merrimack Wasteway
This channel sends excess water back to the river during spring flooding. This was was considered "waste" by mill managers.
Nearby are several devices that help control the water flow and level in the Eastern Canal. The canal was completed in 1836, to provide waterpower for the new Boott Cotton Mills.
[Illustration caption reads]
Boott dam, pen, waste way

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