26 BULLETIN 300, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
By adopting special methods contractors sometimes accomplish 
seemingly impossible work with dredges. In a drainage district® 
having a main ditch ranging in size from a 14-foot base with 4 to 1 
side slopes to a 35-foot base with 1 to 1 side slopes, a 13-yard baie 
spud dipper dredge having a 55-foot boom and mounted on a 30-foot 
hull was used. ‘The berms specified were 10 feet in width. The top 
width of the ditch at its largest section was 55 feet. The distance from 
center to center of spud feet was about 59 feet, which did not quite 
give sufficient reach for the feet to span the ditch. These conditions 
were met by the contractor in the following manner: One-half of the 
width of the ditch was dug for the entire length of the wide section, 
all of the material being placed on one side. The dredge then 
“kicked” back to the beginning. The contractor then bolted two 
logs 22 feet long and having a minimum diameter of 15 inches to the 
spud foot next to the excavated channel. The logs were laid parallel 
on opposite sides of the jack arm, one end of each log being placed on 
the hull while the other rested on the bank. The outer ends of the 
logs, which extended several feet beyond the spud foot, were bolted 
together on both top and bottom with 6 by 8 inch timbers. Timbers 
of the same size were placed against each side of the spud foot and 
bolted to the logs. Thus the machine had a spud bearing on both 
banks and still maintained the specified berm. This unique attach- 
ment eliminated the necessity of installing a longer boom, with possi- 
ble overloading of the machinery. 
On another project a contractor using a floating dipper dredge was 
unable to dispose of all the excavated material. A centrifugal pump 
and gasoline engine were mounted on a barge, and by forcing water 
through a nozzle sufficient pressure was obtained to wash the exca- 
vated material back over the adjacent land away from the ditch. 
This method is economical in reducing inconveniently large waste 
banks. On very wide ditches, over 80 feet in base width, in order to 
obtain a stable toe for the large waste bank, pilot cuts are often made 
and the excavated material placed to form hes inner toe of the waste 
bank. 
Frequently the overhead and width clearances of a dredge must be 
known to determine whether the dredge can ee a bridge. This in- 
formation is given in Table 11. 
sTinge, Rec., vol. 75 (1917); p. TT. 
