Today, chances are that if you see a lobster trap anywhere in North America, it is built with Aquamesh®. In fact, more than 60 percent of the lobster traps used throughout North America are built with the product. That single innovation launched Riverdale Mills Corporation and, over the past 45 years, grew into one of North America’s leading manufacturers of engineered welded wire mesh.
The story of Riverdale Mills Corporation is a classic American startup story, one that transformed a neglected New England textile mill into a world-class manufacturing facility and one of North America’s leading producers of engineered welded wire mesh.
Founded in 1980 in a long-abandoned mill on the Blackstone River in Northbridge, Massachusetts, the company began with little more than an idea and a deteriorated factory. As the business grew, the historic mill was restored section by section and returned to productive manufacturing, once again drawing power from the same Blackstone River that helped launch the American Industrial Revolution.
Founder James Knott, Sr., an economist by education and inventor by inclination, and his son, Jim Knott, Jr., spent countless hours lobster fishing off Gloucester, Massachusetts, America’s oldest fishing port. Their firsthand experience exposed the shortcomings of traditional wooden lobster traps, which were heavy, difficult to handle, vulnerable to rot and shipworm damage, and routinely destroyed by the harsh North Atlantic environment.
Convinced there had to be a better solution, they developed Aquamesh®, the world’s first welded wire mesh engineered specifically for marine trap applications. By combining galvanized-after-welding (GAW) steel with a durable marine-grade polymer coating, they created a mesh that was lighter, stronger, corrosion resistant, and dramatically longer lasting than anything available at the time.
The innovation transformed the commercial lobster industry. More importantly, Aquamesh became the engineering platform upon which Riverdale built its future.
The same technology that enabled Aquamesh to withstand decades of saltwater exposure, wave action, and severe weather proved equally valuable in countless demanding environments. Over the next 45 years, Riverdale continuously refined its proprietary galvanized-after-welding process, expanding from a single marine product into one of North America’s leading manufacturers of premium welded wire mesh.
Unlike conventional welded wire, Riverdale’s galvanized-after-welding process protects every weld intersection, where corrosion almost always begins. By galvanizing after fabrication, every weld is completely encapsulated in zinc, significantly extending service life, reducing maintenance, and lowering long-term ownership costs. Today, Riverdale’s GAW technology has become a benchmark for welded wire performance in corrosive and demanding environments.
Today, Riverdale manufactures more than 3,500 welded wire mesh configurations serving the marine, fencing, agriculture, construction, industrial, infrastructure, and environmental markets.
For fencing professionals, Riverdale has become synonymous with engineered performance and American manufacturing. Every fencing product is manufactured in the United States to meet or exceed ASTM standards, providing contractors, architects, engineers, and facility owners with a premium alternative to commodity imported wire mesh.
The company’s philosophy is simple: if a welded wire mesh can survive decades in the North Atlantic, it will excel on land.
That philosophy is reflected throughout Riverdale’s product line. WireWall® High Security Mesh protects airports, correctional facilities, utilities, substations, border crossings, rapid transit systems, oil and gas facilities, data centers, and other critical infrastructure. Riverdale’s Perimeter Mesh products secure manufacturing plants, warehouses, schools, commercial properties, stadiums, and industrial sites while providing durable solutions for farms, ranches, and residential fencing. Its Architectural Mesh combines structural performance with contemporary design for railings, façades, screening, and custom applications where appearance is as important as strength.
From one revolutionary lobster trap mesh to more than 3,500 engineered welded wire products, Riverdale Mills has never lost sight of the philosophy that started it all: identify a problem, engineer a better solution, and build it to last. More than 45 years later, that same philosophy continues to shape every fence, barrier, and welded wire product that leaves the mill.
After all, the best fencing solutions are not invented in the laboratory. They are engineered to solve real-world problems. If they perform in the ocean, they will perform on land.
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