Posted on January 23, 2023
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Vicksburg District’s Dredge Jadwin and its crew returned to the Vicksburg Harbor this morning completing the 2022 dredging season.
After departing May 10, 2022, the dustpan dredge spent 254 days on the water and relocated 6.2 million cubic yards of material from the Mississippi River. A normal dredging season lasts approximately 160 days.
Due to extreme low water events on the Mississippi River, the 89-year-old Jadwin also supported USACE St. Paul, St. Louis, Memphis, New Orleans and Little Rock districts.
“Dredging is an essential mission to ensure safe and reliable navigation for our nation,” USACE Vicksburg District Commander Col. Christopher Klein said. “We’re incredibly appreciative of the Jadwin crew and their months of dedication and service through the most recent Mississippi River low water event. They answered the call and are heroes of the waterways.”
First launched in 1933, The Jadwin is a 274-foot, 2400 horse-powered dustpan type of dredge that is capable of dredging as deep as 68 feet. She has a height of four stories and performs dredging duties on the Mississippi River and its ports along the river from May to December, when required.
Dustpan dredges are unique to the Mississippi River and work to maintain a navigable channel for commercial navigation to move unimpeded. The Jadwin has a large suction head with high velocity water jets that loosen the silt and sand materials on the riverbed and pump this material through a floating pipeline and is deposited outside the navigation channel near the riverbank.
The USACE Vicksburg District is engineering solutions to the nation’s toughest challenges. The Vicksburg District encompasses a 68,000-square-mile area across portions of Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana, that holds nine major river basins and incorporates approximately 460 miles of mainline Mississippi River levees. The Vicksburg District is engaged in hundreds of projects and employs approximately 1,100 personnel.
