From Florida to Maine, one unique vessel in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ maritime fleet earns its “indispensable” reputation 363 days a year by dredging dangerous shoaling in shallow draft federal channel inlets: hopper dredger Currituck.
The Currituck is assigned to the Corps’ Wilmington District in North Carolina. It’s the only special-purpose type of hopper dredger in the United States that works the same projects as larger sidecasting dredgers, only on a smaller scale.
It features a self-propelled split hull and is equipped with a self-leveling deck-house located at the stern, where all controls and machinery are housed.
The Currituck is hinged above the main deck so that the hull can open from bow to stern by means of hydraulic cylinders located in compartments forward and aft of the hopper section.
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Dredging Today Staff, May 8, 2014