News in Photos: Dredger Potter at Work

January 22, 2015

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers St. Louis District’s Dredger Potter, built in 1932 during the Great Depression, recently completed another successful dredging season on the Middle Mississippi.

During the season, she moved more than 3.2 million cubic yards of sediment – enough to cover a football field to a height of 1,500 feet.

One of the projects in 2014 included dredging of the materials from the Mississippi River to fill eroded areas near Lock 25 in Winfield, Missouri.

Upon arrival her crew began the process of setting up the 2,400-foot flexible pipeline. The flex pipe coupled with the spill barge Thomas N. George gave the dredger team the ability to reach farther and aim more precisely when placing material.

Two days later, the Potter was already placing material into the scour hole below the Lock 25 spillway. 258,000 cubic yards of dredge material was placed into the scour hole and in an adjacent stockpile.