A Dredge Roll call – Contracts 15 and 19

The contracts for the construction of the Barge Canal were let as they were completed by the engineering forces of the state, so, as we see here, contract 15 was along the Champlain Canal in the Comstock area, and contract 19 was far out west along the Tonawanda Creek. It helps to have a map of the contracts.

Contract 15 – The Champlain

So far, I have only found one dredge working this contract. This was the hydraulic dredge Champlain, owned by the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific engineering firm. It was launched in 1907, which means this dredge is quite new when this photo was taken.

This gives us an idea of the type to material that the dredges were suited to.
Note the canal and pulley. This was used to swing the dredge from side to side.
Contract 19 – The Niagara, Buffalo, Lawton, and Teddy

Great Lakes Construction was the contractor for contract 19, and they had four dredges at work; one hydraulic, one dipper and two clam shells.

The Niagara was a hydraulic dredge although the author of the caption called a suction dredge. It was launched in 1909.
We get a look at the cutter head in this view. Below we see a close up of the head.
The people are too far away to use as a scale, but you can see a couple guys standing on the boom in the above image.
In these two views we see the bow and stern, along with the floating pontoons and a fuel (coal) barge alongside.
With the smoke billowing out, it must have been quite the sight.
The dipper dredge Buffalo with a scow and tug.
Although there is no caption, I believe this to be the Buffalo and the clamshell dredge Teddy.
This had to be a bad day at work. Notice the umbrella at the end of the boom. This is where the operator sat as he worked the controls for the dredge.The reports say that one of the timber A-frame supports gave out. It was repaired.
As is typical, we don’t have many images of the smaller dredges. Here we see the Lawton, launched in 1907. Note the rear leg.
It was very nice of the photographer to give us the name of this clam shell. Here we see the Teddy being used to place shore protection.

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