That week last July when the dredge pump just kept clearing

We were working this section of the Mississippi near Baton Rouge and for five straight days the material was perfect, no clogs, no rocks jamming the cutterhead... it was like the river just gave us a break. The crew was actually ahead of schedule by almost 12 hours by Friday afternoon. Has anyone else ever had a stretch that felt too easy and it made you nervous about what was coming next?

3 comments

3 Comments

simon_carr1d ago

Stop RIGHT there. FIVE days with no clogs on a Mississippi dredge? That's like seeing a unicorn doing the backstroke, I don't trust it at all. I'd be watching the pressure gauges like a hawk waiting for the universe to balance the scales.

charles_baker281d agoTop Commenter

You know, Simon, that reminds me of a time back in '98 when I was helping a buddy clear a beaver dam up near the Illinois River. We'd been at it for three days straight, mud up to our elbows, and just when we thought we'd finally gotten the last of it, a big old cottonwood branch had wedged itself in there sideways. We had to call in a guy with a winch truck to pull it out, took another four hours. I bet that dredge crew is feeling the same kind of uneasy calm you're talking about. It's that quiet before the storm feeling that sticks with you long after the work is done.

ruby_wright1d ago

My cousin runs a crew on the Atchafalaya and he says when things get that smooth he starts checking the logbooks for the last time someone greased a fitting wrong. He swears the river's got a sense of humor and it's just setting you up for a blowout on a Sunday night.