A lesson from an old hand on the Columbia River

Years back, I was running a small cutterhead dredge near Portland and kept fighting with the suction line clogging. An older operator named Ray, who was watching from the bank, just yelled over, 'Kid, you're digging too fast for that silt. Let the river do the work.' He came aboard and showed me how to read the water color and feel the pump vibration to find the right speed. I still think about that every time I'm in soft material. What's the best piece of simple, hands-on advice you ever got on the water?

2 comments

2 Comments

wyatt93213d ago

Cutterhead dredges still exist?

-2

kai56413d ago

wyatt932, they're definitely still around for big projects. The real question is if we need them for every little job these days. Seems like overkill gets used a lot.