The Dredge Report | Week of January 24, 2021
Cod Fish II â Sesuit Harbor, Dennis
Dredging took place just two days last week. The weather on Monday still had seas to high keeping the Cod Fish II inside the harbor. On Tuesday the crew was needed to help with the staging for the Stage Harbor project (see below). On Wednesday and Thursday, the Cod Fish II crew resumed dredging and finished the Sesuit Harbor project which was just in time to remove the pipe from the dredge and move her and the J.W. Doane (one of our two Pushboats) inside the harbor before the Norâeaster.
The Cod Fish II will take a short break before starting the next project which right now is scheduled to be Popponesset Channel in Mashpee starting sometime next month.
Sand Shifter â Little Bay, Bourne —-> Stage Harbor, Chatham
Like a giant jig saw puzzle, there are many parts to this project that are required before the first Cubic Yard of sand is pumped. Each day brings about another task which requires our entire dredge team.
In the dredge industry, the staging of the equipment is called âmobilizingâ.
As noted above, we also had to finish up the dredging in Sesuit Harbor as we had a January 31st TOY (Time of Year) dredging restriction in place which prohibited dredging beyond this date.
To follow are just a few of these mobilizing tasks:
- The 6,500 feet of pipe that was used in Bourne for the Little Bay project had to be broken down into three sections. These sections had to be capped, and then floated so they could be towed to Stage Harbor, Chatham.
- Towing the pipe. Last Monday we hired R.B. Our to tow these sections of pipe to Chatham. It was a simple exercise for them using one of their large coastal tugs. The pipe arrived in Stage Harbor late afternoon and was met by our work skiffs and 35â Duffy â the Commander.
- Moving the Sand Shifter to Stage Harbor. Once the pipe was under tow, we connected the Stephen Bradbury to the Sand Shifter and began the 70 nm trip to Chatham. Due to the slow speed (five knots without a head current or seas), the Sand Shifter got as far as Falmouth where she was docked for the night. On Tuesday she continued the trip and arrived in Stage Harbor late afternoon and dropped her âspudsâ in the harbor.
- Our Booster Station that was down in Georgia from early August to mid-October (having the pumping part of the Booster Station rebuilt) was moved from Baxter Cranesâ yard in Yarmouth to Harding Beach in Chatham. The Booster Station will be positioned in between the dredge and the discharge area (Cockle Cove), more on this next week.
- More pipe! An additional 3,000 feet of pipe had to be purchased to complete the total length of ~12,000 feet. Ten sections of Three-Hundred-foot lengths had to be assembled.
- And still more pipe! We have an additional 2,500 feet that must be floated and capped and moved from Parkers River, Yarmouth to Stage Harbor to complete the length required.
To follow are some photos from some of the various stages of the mobilization as noted above.
