My cutterhead got packed with mud near Bellingham Bay back in 2021

I was working a small channel dredge up near Bellingham Bay during a low tide window. The cutterhead just locked up solid after hitting a thick clay layer mixed with old tree roots. It took me and a deckhand almost 4 hours to clear it out by hand with a pressure washer. Has anyone else run into surprise clay pockets like that in the Pacific Northwest?

2 comments

2 Comments

sandra_black25d agoMost Upvoted

Yeah that clay with tree roots is a nightmare. We hit something similar down in Coos Bay back in 2019, only it was mixed with that blue-gray marine clay that just turns into glue when wet. What finally worked for us was switching to a smaller nozzle on the pressure washer and working in a grid pattern from the outside in. Took us about 3 hours but it beat trying to chisel it out. Also found out the hard way that letting it dry even a little makes it ten times worse, so you gotta keep it wet while you blast. That Bellingham mud is no joke either, I've heard stories from guys up there about logs and stumps hiding under the surface.

avery_roberts6725d ago

@sandra_black I swear by keeping it soaked too or you just make more work for yourself.