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Patch worn by United States Army Corps of Engineers, Floating Plant Personnel.

--A note on the development of Mississippi River Dredges--

Engineers Far From Ordinary. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in St. Louis "Perhaps what most promoted and enabled use of dredges was their development and endorsement by the Mississippi River Commission after 1892. In 1891, a delegation of ship captains operating below St. Louis raised concerns that conditions on the river had deteriorated to the point where they impaired navigation. As a result, the commission created the Committee on Dredges and Dredging in 1892 to research, prototype, and deploy dredges in the Lower Mississippi River. Suter and St. Louis civilian engineer Henry Flad were the initial committee members, which eventually included Benjamin Harrod and Handbury. By the following year, the committee had developed the Dredge Alpha which featured a pump and drag system and discharge pipe extending aft. A mooring spud kept the dredge in place, allowing it to move back and forth over a bar. First used near Cape Girardeau in 1894 to clear a 1,600-foot bar, the dredge was a huge advance in technology, but lacked sufficient power. A second model introduced in 1896, the Dredge Beta, used two pump engines and improved the discharge pipe. After the 1896 Rivers and Harbors Act provided funding to build additional prototypes, the committee complete the Dredge Gamma later that year, which included more sophisticated pumps and two intake lines and heads. A jet provided agitation to increase the effectiveness of the suction, and a 1,000-foot outtake line maximized distance to deposit areas. In 1897, the committee introduced the Dredge Delta, which used a mechanical cutter on the suction head to break up soil. This was followed by the dredges Epsilon and Zeta, which used jet and scraping agitation to breakup soil prior to suction. Wrhile experimenting with design, the committee also tried various combinations of crew numbers and operation. With completion of these prototypes, dredging entered maturity of design and operation.” Engineers Far From Ordinary. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in St. Louis
Click on ship name to view image(s) and history.

US Army Corps of Engineers Dredges
A. Mackenzie
Absecon
Alabama
Allegheny
Alpha
Ancon
Apo
Arctic
Asotin ex-USED Wallowa II
Atlantic
B. M. Harrod
Barnard
Barth
Beaver
Ben Humphreys
Benyaurd
Beta
Biddle
Blackwater
Burgess
Burton
C. B. Harris
Cahaba
Cape Fear
Captain Andrew Talcott
Captain Huston
Captain Meriwether Lewis
Captain William Clark
Cartagena
Cascades
Cataract
Caucus
Champoeg
Chester Harding
Chinook ex-USQMC Transport Grant
Cincinnati
Clatsop
Clearwater
Col. D.D. Gaillard
Col. Farquhar
Col. G.P. Howell
Col. M. B. Adams
Col. P.S. Michie
Columbia
Comber
Comstock
Congaree
Coos
Creighton
Culebra
Cumberland
Currituck (I)
Currituck (II)
Dalecarlia
Delta
Dan C. Kingman
Davenport
Davison
De Pere
Delatour
Delaware
Depoe Bay
Detroit Wayne
DeWitt Clinton (I)
De Witt Clinton (II)
Dredge No. 1
Dredge No. 2
Dredge No. 3
Dredge No. 4
Dredge No. 5 renamed Fort Gage
Dredge No. 6 renamed Fort Chartres
Dredge No. 8
Dredge No. 24
Dubuque
Dundee renamed Kennedy
Edwin R. Kimble
Epsilon
Essayons I
Essayons II
Essayons III
Etna renamed Hydraulic Dredge No. 5
Florida
Fort Chartres ex Dredge No. 6
Fort Gage ex Dredge No. 5
Frontenac
Fry
Gallatin
Galveston
Gamma
General C.B. Comstock
General Chittenden (I)
Gen. G.G. Meade ex Gen. G.L. Gillespie
Gen. G.L. Gillespie renamed GEN. G.G. Meade
General Moultrie
Gerig
Geyser
Gillespie
Goethals
Goetz
Grafton
Grossetete
Gulfport
Gulfstream ex-US Navy Dredge YM-20
H. S. Taber
Hains
Harwood
Hecla renamed Hydraluic Dredge No. 2
Hell Gate
Henderson (II)
Henry Bacon
Henry Burden
Henry Flad
Hoffman
Holland
Hurley
Hyde
Hydraulic Dredge No. 2 ex Hecla
Hydraulic Dredge No. 5 ex Etna
Hydraulic Dredge No. 6 ex Vesuvius
Hydraulic Dredge No. 7 ex Peelee
Indiana
Iota
Irondequoit
Jadwin
Jefferson
Jewett
Josenhans
Kappa
Kennedy ex Dundee
Kentucky
Keokuk
Kewaunee
Key West
Kim Giang
Kwasind
Lake Charles
Lake Fairfax
Langfitt
Lavaca
Luckiamute
Lyman
Madison
Major J. C. Mallery
Manhattan
Mantua
Marietta
Markham
Mayaca
Mayon
McFarland
Merritt ex US Navy YSD-59
Minquas
Missouri
Monallo
Montana
Monticello
Morgan
Mullen
Multnomah
Murden
Muscogee
Navesink
New Orleans
Nolin River
Norman H. Davis
Ockerson
Ohio
Omega
Orange
Oregon
Oriole
Oswego
Pascagoula
Pacific
Paraiso
Peelee renamed Hydraulic Dredge No. 7
Pettus
Phoenix
Point Loma
Pontotoc
Portland
Potter
Pullen
Ram
Raritan
Raymond
Rock Island
Robert McGregor
Sacramento
Saginaw
Sainte Genevieve
Sam Houston
San Joaquin
San Pablo
San Pedro
Sandwick
Sarasota
Savannah
Schweizer ex US Navy YF-865
Selma
Sodus
St. Paul
Sunflower
Suwanee
Taal
Talcott
Tampa
Taylor ex Willets Point
Tellico
Texas
Thebes
Tishomingo
Todd
Tortoise
Tompkins
Traverse
Trinity
Umatilla
Unser Fritz
Vesuvius renamed Hydraulic Dredge No. 6
Virginia
Vulcan
Wahalak
Wahkiakum
Wallowa (II) rebuilt as USED Asotin
Warren George
Waterway
Welatka
Wheeler
Willets Point renamed Taylor
William A. Thompson
William L. Guthrie
William L. Marshall
William M. Black
William S. Ladd
William S. Mitchell
William T. Rossell
Willie
Winneconne
Wishram
Woodbury
Yaquina
Zeta
3301

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