Caught my cutterhead chewing through an old anchor chain in Galveston Bay last Tuesday

Was running the dredge on the Houston Ship Channel approach and felt the vibration go weird. Shut down quick and found a 3-foot piece of rusted chain wrapped around the cutter teeth. Took 4 hours to get it cleared with torches and a crane. Anyone else deal with random junk showing up in the cut? What's the weirdest thing you've pulled out?

3 comments

3 Comments

skyler_jackson2723d ago

You ever try running a magnetometer sweep before you start cutting?

jamie94023d ago

I mean, is a magnetometer sweep really necessary for most jobs? Unless you're digging in a literal warzone or something, the odds of hitting a buried cable or pipe are pretty low (like, how often does that actually happen?). I feel like people overthink this stuff, you know - unless you're doing heavy excavation in an unknown area, just use common sense and you'll be fine.

quinncarr23d ago

Wait, are you saying you didn't run any kind of survey or check before you started cutting in Galveston Bay? I've seen enough scrap metal and old pilings come up from that bottom to know it's like a junkyard down there. How do you even sleep at night if you're just hoping the chain doesn't wrap around your gear?