That week on the Columbia River when the silt just wouldn't settle

We were running a 14-inch cutterhead near Astoria and the visibility dropped to maybe six inches for three straight days. The whole crew was basically dredging blind, just going off the feel of the pump and the sound of the engine. Anyone else ever have a job where the material itself just fought you the whole time?

3 comments

3 Comments

joelt7011h ago

Holy cow, @abbyg60, dredging blind?

jake6386h ago

Yeah, saw a documentary where they talked about that exact thing. The old timers used to say you could FEEL the difference when the bucket hit solid rock versus something else. Still sounds like a total gamble every single time you drop it. Honestly can't imagine the stress of not knowing what's down there until it breaks the surface.

abbyg6015h ago

Man, that sounds brutal. Did you guys ever worry about hitting something you couldn't see, or was the risk just part of the grind?