A month of routine checks on the Mississippi finally showed some progress

I run cutterhead ops near Baton Rouge and for weeks the same stretch kept silting back in at about 2 feet deep. Switched my swing speed from 3.2 to 2.8 rpm and added a second pass on the upstream side. After 4 weeks that same spot is holding at 4.5 feet plus and we cleared a 60 foot channel today. Has anyone else seen that big a jump just from slowing the swing down?

2 comments

2 Comments

gibson.troy1d ago

Agree with morganl71, but log your water levels and swing speed daily, the data tells the truth.

morganl711d ago

Honestly, I'd bet it's not the swing speed. That 2.8 rpm change is so small it barely shifts the cutter force, you know? More likely you just got lucky with a few weeks of drier weather or the river dropped a bit. I've seen guys swear by slower swings and then the next month they're back to square one. Maybe it's just my experience, but the bottom changes so much down there that crediting one knob tweak feels like a stretch. If it holds through a decent rain event, then I'll start believing it.