Special Dredges
Ellicott International designed the Currituck and supplied all of its dredging and pumping machinery. Built in 1974, the vessel was originally a barge that worked in tandem with a side-casting dredge. After the dredge filled the Currituck's holding bin, known as the hopper, it would cruise to a near shore dumping area and open the hull, depositing the material. In 1977 the Currituck was converted into a self-contained dredge, modified with two 160-horse power diesel pumps attached to drag heads with 10- inch diameter pipes that act like a vacuum, sucking sand from the bottom of the harbor entrance and spewing a dark-colored slurry mixture into the hopper. As it fills, the vessel rides lower and lower in the water, until the deck is nearly awash. It takes 20 to 25 minutes of dredging to fill the 80-foot long, 8-foot deep hopper; the drag heads can be trimmed when needed to adjust for depth, and the amount of spoil collected can be controlled by adjusting drainage flumes along the side of the hopper. Its cargo dumped, the hulls which are like two huge pontoons come together once again.
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