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Authorized Legacy Act Project Site
Ruddiman Creek/Pond Project
New Earth Moving Equipment at
Ruddiman Creek and Pond Clean Up Project
February 17, 2006
The sediment removal efforts in Ruddiman Creek ran into a snag recently when the land adjacent to the north end of the Creek was found to be too soft to support the dredging equipment and too soft for the temporary road construction that worked well further upstream southeast of Glenside Blvd. This problem has been solved with the use of floating roads, smaller hauling trucks and a floating dredger (see photos). The floating road is able to support the smaller hauler trucks, called “Loader Crawlers.” These crawlers have been adapted (see before and after photos with plywood sides added). This means less spillage of sediments and the crawler holds more sediment so that it can make fewer trips between the dredge and the offloading site where the sediments are mixed with calciment and lime to speed up the drying process before being moved to the landfill. The floating dredger was brought in especially for this work from Pennsylvania and there are not very many of them in operation nationwide. These types of dredgers are most often used in areas like Louisiana where some areas are impossible to reach without equipment that can work in very soft mud and shallow water.
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| This machine can drive forward and also float on its pontoons. It has a small bucket for picking up the sediments from the creek and placing it into the swamp crawlers. |
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| The floating road is being placed along Ruddiman Creek |
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| The road provides a way for the hauling trucks (Loader Crawlers) to get to the swamp dredge |
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| A Loader Crawler next to the floating dredge, ready for loading |
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| The sides of the loader crawler have been raised to accommodate more sediment |
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| In the forefront, the sheet piling separates the upstream and downstream sections. The floating dredge and loader crawlers are being used upstream. After the upstream section is completed, the downstream area will be dredged directly from the road |