248 



A TREATISE ON DREDGES AND DREDGING 



The buckets travel forward and backward on the frame, cutting 

 off a thin slice of earth from the sides and bottom. As one bucket 

 is being dumped the other is loading. The excavation can be made 

 either in the dry or under water. No dirt is left in the bottom, 

 the buckets cleaning it up as the machine travels along on two rails, 

 one on either side of the ditch. As the dredge travels on rails a 

 perfectly straight ditch can be dug. It can also be mounted on a 

 walking device or on a scow, but its best work is done when operated 

 on rails. The guiding frame can be raised above the surface of the 



FIG. 82. The Austin Drainage Excavator. 



ground, and thus be moved across the country on its own rails, 

 traveling under favorable conditions about a mile per day. 



J. W. T. Stephens of New Orleans, La., is the inventor of a small 

 dredge for ditch and canal work. It might be classed with the 

 ladder or elevator type of machines. The chain of buckets is hung 

 from a boom and discharge onto belt conveyors, depositing the 

 material onto either bank. Bank spuds or arms hold the dredge 

 or scow in place. The boom can be raised or lowered and swung 

 from side to side, covering 180 of circle, so that from one 

 position of the boat, a large amount of work can be done. The 



