An indispensable item of equipment over a wide range of the maritime civil engineer’s activities is the dredge with its ancillary units, such as hopper barges, tugs, reclamation units, and servicing craft. The material to be removed by dredging operations is usually derived from one of two sources or from a combination of both. In harbors at the mouths of rivers, quantities of silt are carried down in suspension and tend, partly because of the deceleration of the flow in the increased waterway available and partly because of the effects of increasing salinity, to be deposited at the mouth, usually the site of harbor works - barge service . This process has produced areas of marked agricultural fertility. While over a large time span the action is one of great benefit, in the short term it is generally a considerable inconvenience. The skillful employment of modern dredging equipment, however, has indicated possibilities of getting the best ...