Journey to the Center 2

More teeth . . .  price per?  And here’s a puzzle to savor . . . what connection is there between this machine and the 1893 Chicago’s World Fair aka Columbia Exposition?   What connection is there between this machine and the mid-1950s arrival of German sub U-505 at its current location?  Answers follow.

Guess the diameter of this pump housing?

Here’s a side view of the dredge Florida taken a few weeks ago from shore and

another taken while docking there yesterday.  Imagine the innards?   This vessel launched in 1954 from National Steel and Shipbuilding of San Diego.

In this view from the port side of the wheelhouse, the cutter head mission control is the area surrounded by monitors.

Color coding tracks progress.

In the current operation, bedrock dislodged by the 30ish rpm cutter head gets scooped out by an excavator (see a future post).  But in other projects, this pump can draw out loosened materials and blow them onto land.  The diameter of this pump is . . . . pretty big.

Also below deck is power control.

Now those questions at the beginning, Great Lakes Dredge & Dock began as Lydon & Drews, and they provided the “shoreline” for the Columbian Exposition.  Also, GLDD, as it was called in 1954, assisted in moving the U-505 into its current location at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industy.  Cost of teeth . . .sooon.

William A. Lydon (see above) was this owner of steam yacht Lydonia, like Cangarda, built at Pusey and Jones of Wilmington, DE.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.