National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1884-11-14
THE NEW DREDGEs.
Launch Of n Mighty Hull from Dladen's
Wharf-Lumber 70 be Brought from the

Launch Of Mighty Hull from Bladen's
Wharf-Lumbcr 20 be Brought from the
Pacific Coast
one of the largest craft built ON this side of
the river in recent times was launched last
week from Bndens wharf, foot OF Third street
southeast. 1t was the hull Of the colossal
steam drcdge to te usol In translerin ma
tcrial from the river b ittOm to the Potomac
| flats, under Nlirn d McNec's contract It Is
built Of solid oak and Georgia pine, the tim
bcrs being al twelve inches square and tho io
on the sides fifty feet long. The dimensions
are 100 feet in length and 80 fo1t lean, with a
! depth Of feet. The limb r, arc laid one on
the other and boltcd together as they nrc built
| up. The hold Is 20 by IS fco., and will contain
the boilers md three engines, ono Of the let.
tct-ihdt used for operating the ccnlr.iCal
/ Iunpa-s TO he OF 200 horse power; The
let Tor shining the table. OF 80 horse
| power and third Is for operating
| delay of some seven weeks occurred I'm pro.
| curing timber of the requisite size and quality,
/ We lumber yards from Bath, Me-, to Pensacola,
| Fla, being secured with the result of finding
| only one stick of wood. and TINT IN Wishing
| ton. A sufficient supply was finally secured
and shipped from Jacksonville, Fla The
! pumps are being mhde ~ Poole u Hunts
| foundry, Baltimore, and the boilers NJ tne
! PhUniS Iron works, MCndvillc, Pa, all from
| patterns shipped from San Francisco. The
! pumps are the largest of the kind ever con-
sgrueted, the 'runners' being eight feet IN
! diameter. They will weigh when completed
! 5000 pounds The operation Of pumping is Il
| duplex one; before the mixed material reaches
| the pump the power is that of suction, after
! ward changing to q force pump, and
/ driving the mud to any distance along the
! 2)inCh pipe until Il X discharged. The river
/ bottom here furnishes much more satisfactory
| material to operate this machine With than
1rv 1pI an lao nNntf ~
J and the work here is not regarded by those
/ concerned as an experiment, success even be-
| You'd their previous anticipations betng
| thought to be assured beyond any kind OF
doubt. Not only will the dredging by this
| new hydraulic process be n satisfactory opera.
/ ton with the material to be operated upon,
but the made land will quickly become firm
ana solid
The cost Of each Of tho drcdgcs Is estimated
! at $1,000 to $4,000. The difficulty found IN
obtaining suitable timber for the first hull led
the contractors 10 send to the Pacific coast for
the lumber with which to construct the one
| now building Oregon pine has been substi.
/ tuted Tor Georgia nud II large shipment OBJ
| tanned. The ircights charged Tor the patterns
was $50 per car load, but the Pacific railroad
| companies were so DESTROYS of having the
| woods of that section introduced cast that
they carried the lumber for 500 per load. The
cost with this concession was sli per 1000 feet
less than for the lumber purchased here
! while the quality is better and any length de-
sired up to $50 long and three feet square can
| be obtained.
There are about hundred men employed
night aud day upon the new drcdgc, aud about
a score on the one launched. Work began on
the former ON the 9Th instant, and 1t is 10 be
| completed in thirty days, ready for tn,
machinery which is eNpcctcd to be all on the
spot by that time. Three ordinary drcdggs arc
now, and have been fore some time employed
In making an ombankmcnt to serve as II re-
tanning wall for the newly dredged materials
| The new machines are expected TO be III full
operation by the middle of next month.