Ship Model, Hopper Dredge Willets Point

Description:

Hopper dredges are used to clear channels and offshore sandbars as well as sediment deposits that restrict navigation into rivers and harbors. They work like underwater vacuum cleaners: each dredge is equipped with a suction pipe, or drag arm, that gathers up sediment from the bottom. The dredged sediment is then stored in the ship’s interior containers, or hoppers. When the hoppers are full, the dredge uses a series of pumps and pipelines to transport the sediment to a secondary location for disposal.

Built in 1926 by the Federal Shipping Company, a subsidiary of U.S. Steel, in Kearny, New Jersey, the hopper dredge Willets Point could raise sediment from depths of 12 to 35 feet. This 200-foot vessel was designed for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and represents the type of equipment used in early 20th-century harbor improvement work. In 1927 the Willets Point was commissioned to dredge sections of the Potomac River. At the time, large vessels could not reach Alexandria, Virginia, and Washington, D. C., because of sedimentation in the channels and harbors. Between January and April 1927, the Willets Point moved 581,507 cubic yards of sediment from the bottom of the Potomac.

Hopper dredges cannot move quickly while working. As a result, dredges use a series of signal patterns to let nearby ships know when they are actively working. During the day an arrangement of black circles and diamonds is raised up on the mast, while at night the dredges use an alternating pattern of red and white lights.

This cutaway model was built by Severn-Lamb Ltd., in Stratford-on-Avon, England.

Date Made: 19701926

Subject: FishingRelated Event: The Emergence of Modern AmericaThe Great Depression and World War II

Subject:

See more items in: Work and Industry: Maritime, Engineering, Building, and Architecture, Work

Exhibition: On the Water

Exhibition Location: National Museum of American History

Related Web Publication: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater

Related Publication: On the Water online exhibition

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: TR.330083Catalog Number: 330083Accession Number: 288668

Object Name: dredge, seagoingmodel, seagoing dredgeOther Terms: dredge, seagoing; Maritime; Hopper

Physical Description: wood (overall material)metal (overall material)plastic (overall material)Measurements: overall: 8 3/4 in x 25 in x 7 in; 22.225 cm x 63.5 cm x 17.78 cm

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a6-9eac-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_844141

Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.

If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.