On the Oregon: Keep the channel clear

The dredge Oregon sits in the distance as a crew boat races toward it. The dredge is working at the west end of Puget Island restoring about 350 yards of beach. Photo by Stevan Morgain. A familiar sight along the Columbia River is the dredge Oregon grinding its way up and down the river keeping the shipping channel open to commerce.

Wahkiakum County Commissioner Lisa Marsyla arranged for The Wahkiakum Eagle and representatives from Cathlamet to tour the dredge. The Port of Portland provided Navigation Manager Jeff Hawkins to go along to explain its mission and history.

According to Hawkins, dredge Oregon was built in the Mississippi delta in 1945 as a twin-screw tugboat. In 1965 Bower Dredging in Portland converted the river tug into dredge Oregon and the Port of Portland has owned it since that time.

In 1978 the Oregon sank at the port's dock in Portland. A crewman left sea-cocks open and water flooded the blow decks. She was re-floated, and in 1979 the Oregon was refurbished.

"The old wood superstructure and living quarters for the crew were removed," said Hawkins. "People don't live aboard the dredge anymore and haven't for over 30 years."

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Today dredge Oregon lists a compliment of 38 crew members, three administrative staff, a chief engineer, shore superintendent, and of course the dredge captain. The dredge runs three shifts 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The dredge's engine is a massive 20 feet long and 13 feet wide. The 5000 horsepower engine operates the main dredge pump and burns 5000 gallons of diesel a week. The dredge pump has an 84 inch impeller that spins at 300 revolutions per minute.

However, the Oregon doesn't normally move under its own power. The dredge has a tugboat tender that moves it from site to site.

"When it does moves on its own," said Hawkins, "the dredge mechanically walks up and down the river using two 'spuds' mounted at the stern of the ship and two anchor lines dropped out in front about of the dredge about 1500 feet."

The dredge is stationed in the channel at a position usually determined by survey work. At the bow of the dredge is an extended metal framework called "the ladder" with a cutter head on the end and pipeline running through it. The spoils sucked through this pipeline are pumped to shore. If the pipe run is unusually long, the crew will add a 1000 horsepower booster pump mounted in the belly of the ship.

The way it works: The spuds are mounted at the stern on both the starboard and port sides of the dredge. Each spud is 104 feet long and weighs 34 tons. The spuds are raised and lowered to act as pivot points for the dredge. When the captain wants to move the dredge forward he pulls in on the anchor cable and pivots the boat on the spud. In this fashion he walks the dredge up or down the river, working the dredge's augur back and forth across the riverbed cutting and deepening the channel.

"The dredge normally gets its work assignments from the Army Corps of Engineers,” said Hawkins, "and the dredge's administrative staff prepare daily project reports on the dredge's progress. The corps also provides working maps and directions to the dredge.

The work being done at the west end of Puget Island on Ohrberg's beach called for dredge Oregon's crew to layout almost 4,000 feet of pipe. Since September 10, the dredge crew has placed almost 350,000 cubic feet of sand spoils on the beach.

"This can be dangerous work," said Hawkins. In 2006 the dredge sucked up a welder’s oxygen bottle that exploded in the pump. The incident shut down the dredge for several days while it was repaired.

"I got a call from the crew," said Hawkins with a chuckle. "They said they needed help because a bomb had just gone off in the pump."

Dredge Oregon works an average of 100 days a year and costs the Port of Portland about $12.2 million a year. The outlay is reimbursed by the federal government.