Dredge Mystery Solved

I’d seen Ocean Tower on AIS earlier and watched it pass along with its tow, but I was focused on something else, so this was my best shot.  I had caught its reddish color, the Great Lakes Dredge and Dock color. 

Phil Little caught this photo from his Weehawken cliff.  I believe the tow had gone up the North River to wait for a favorable time through Hell Gate on the other side of the island.  

Later in the day I got a query from Lew.  This was the closest he could get from his vantage point, and he wondered what that gargantuan crane was.

I concluded I should contact my friend Nelson Brace, whose photos of Cape Cod Canal transits I always found spectacular.  Nelson told me he works with a group called ‘Photogs Я Us’ .  They even have a FB page that’s a “must-see” if you do FB.

And here’s the close-up of the dredge from ‘Photogs Я Us’ …  It’s the dredge New York. I’m not sure where she has more recently been working, but she’s currently heading for Boston, where the harbor channel deepening process is on.

Her bucket can dig down to 83′ down and take up to 25 cubic yds of material.

Many thanks to the fine photographers of ‘Photogs Я Us’ for these closeups.

Also to Phil and Lew for contacting me.

I recall when GLDD’s New York was operating in the sixth boro, deepening the channels here and here.  Also, she was passively involved in an incident some of you may recall as well.  Below are more photos I took of dredge New York working just NW of the Staten Island Ferry terminal in fall 2010.

Captain D is the assist boat.  These photos show the role of the derrick over the Liebherr 996. 

Here’s a crowded dredge zone.

 

Here’s the USACE on the project in Boston.