Dredging The Big Sandy For 30 Years

Amherst Madison Inc., the venerable marine towing, construction and repair firm on the Kanawha River at Charleston, W.Va., has marked a milestone of sorts this year. Among its other dredging projects, the company is in its roughly 30th year of dredging the Big Sandy River.

Robert McCoy, president, estimates that Amherst Madison has removed some 7,500,000 cubic yards of material during that time, at a rate of 250,000 cubic yards per year. The dredging for this year is halfway done, he said. It takes six to seven weeks each year.

“We get the best results with Manitowoc 4600 series 3 cranes and clamshells, in tandem with an assortment of 800 to 1,200 hp. boats,” said McCoy. The disposal site is in the Ohio River near South Point, Ohio.

Caption for photo: An Amherst Madison dredge working on the Big Sandy River.