The opening of the Panama Canal was a catastrophe for Midwestern granger . So , in 1930 the US regime place about change the Mississippi River to improve its payload dealings capability . 79 long time later , one dredger is still on the line .
The Rivers and Harbors Act of 1930 empower a 9 - foundation thick , 400 - foot wide distribution channel be removed from the bottom of the Upper Mississippi River to allow for true consignment traffic navigation . To that end , the US Army Corps of Engineers launch a fleet of Dredgers to tackle the task . Dredging is the process of bump off and disposing of submerged sediments .
Dredges come in two principal varieties : dustpanful heads , which do like large subaqueous vacuums sucking up light sands and sediments ; and cutter head , which bore through the strata and are more fit for murky , stony lengths . With both styles , the loosened soil is then direct back towards a suction hosiery where it is pumped back to the ship and either stored on - add-in , pumped onto a little ship that ferry it aside for disposal , or pump back onshore for immediate disposal .
video recording of the Cutter Head in Action :
Video of the Dustpan Head in Action :
The dustpan dredge Potter is the old active - serving dredge on the Mississippi . It begin its duties in 1932 , just two years after the River and Habors Act and a year and a one-half before any other dredge . When it launched , the Potter was steam - powered and required its own dedicated fuel barge to serve it maintain river miles 0 to 300 . The Potter ran for 70 years before being “ repowered ” in 2001 .
The process of “ Repowering ” a dredge is , in reality just what it sound like . “ Fuel oil consumption was so high with the steam plant that we had to refuel almost daily , so we needed two barge — one to refuel the dredge and another to refuel itself , ” say First Mate Terry Bequette . So , a team from Halter Marine , Inc. , the company contracted with the rennovation , tore out the steam plant and replaced it with three Caterpillar 3516B 1,825 - kW diesel generators ( two for operation and one standby ) that pass a 600 - volt main jitney .
That bus , power two new 1200HP GE Electric Motors that drive the state - of - the - artwork dustpan head . The new headland sweep a 32 - foot - wide path along the river bottom , 20 nozzles trace the base of the dustpan shake up sediment as it happen . Sediment is sucked up through a 38″ all-inclusive suction hosiery , powered by a unexampled mellow - denseness dredge heart with nearly double the electrical capacity of the one-time .
“ What do I miss ? The romance of steam , the memories of an era that is gone , ” says Bequette . “ What do I not miss ? The odour , for one ! ”
[ Wikipedia – Wikipedia – US Army , Corps of Eng.–Natl . Park Service – USACE Philadelphia District – Videos : US Army , Corps of Eng . ]
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Mississippi River
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