Spud Legged Dredger update
Spud Legged Dredger update
by: Peter A.
We have been busy recently with both our dredgers Patricia & Hamster. Patricia has been moored up under the trees by Harper Auction site for some time, but in a location which was both risky & difficult to access and presented serious issues should we ever get some heavy rain! With no functioning bilge pumps and nowhere to discharge contaminated water, she was in danger of sinking where she sat, so just had to be moved.
Last week she made the short journey to our Harpers Field slipway. Trench plates were laid up the ramp and with the combined effort of our two diggers, we pulled her out of the water. It will now be possible to firstly, clean her, then set about extracting the engine, which has a bent con-rod on No.4 cylinder and set about general restoration. It was also possible to extract some of her ballast which was needed for Hamster.
On Wednesday, Hamster was drawn into Nowtown Lock so that the borrowed ballast from Pat’ could be easily loaded in and placed as low as possible in the stern bilge.
Measurements were taken of her trim change and roll behaviour. She is now ready to start dredging.
The final obstacle to dredging was the need to remove the old Bonds Mill lift bridge. This also took place on Wednesday.
This matter is covered in detail elsewhere. Being able to pass mud hoppers under the new Bailey Bridge permits us to dredge between Pike Lock and Bonds Mill. This will commence shortly.
