The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia District, has just posted this amazing image from 1962 of the drag arm of their dredging vessel Goethals, which operated from 1937 to 1982.
From a distance, the Corps’ hopper dredger looks like most any other vessel. Thing that makes it different is the ‘lobster claw’, duplicated on other side, which acts just like a vacuum cleaner.
Dredge sucks up debris which goes into tanks (hoppers) which make up most of hull. When hoppers are full, cargo is dumped at sea.
According to the Corps, pictured here is Raymond Wohl (69 Dept.) during the ‘feeler’ inspection work.