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A Gallery of Early Canadian Dredges on the British Columbia Coast

by John MacFarlane 2017

Fruhling

Fruhling (Photo courtesy MMBC. )

In 1907 she was built at Danzig Germany as the Fruhling. She was later renamed as the P.W.D. No. 303. 187.0’ x 34.6’ x 15.2’ steel hull 910gt 410rt. She was originally powered by a 14hp steam engine. She was repowered around the Second World War with a 270ihp steam engine.

In 1914 Otto Fruhling patented revolutionary designs for the cutter heads for suction dredging equipment which was particularly effective in 'tenacious' or 'heavy' ground.

Fruhling

Fruhling (Photo courtesy MMBC. )

In 1931–1961 she was owned by The Minister of Public Works, Ottawa ON. In 1967 she was owned by British Columbia Bridge & Dredging Co. Ltd., Vancouver BC.

Ajax

Ajax (Photo courtesy MMBC. )

Ajax

Ajax (Photo courtesy MMBC. )

Ajax at Nanaimo BC

Ajax at Nanaimo BC (Photo courtesy MMBC. )

Mudlark

The Mudlark dredge tender sunk as a result of an accident. (Photo courtesy MMBC. )

The Mudlark was a steam tug that acted as a dredge tender. On 13/11/1915 she was sunk.

Mudlark

The Mudlark dredge tender sunk as a result of an accident. (Photo courtesy MMBC. )

King Edward

King Edward (Photo courtesy MMBC. )

In 1901 she was built as King Edward in New Westminster BC (later renamed as P.W.D. No. 305) 146.5’ x 33’ x 6.3’ Steel hull 449gt 145rt She was a sternwheeler powered by a 17hp steam engine. She was rebuilt to 127.6’ x 33’ x 7’ 543gt 543rt and repowered with a 500hp engine. King Edward

King Edward dredge (Photo courtesy MMBC. )

In 1901-1958 she was owned by The Minister of Public Works, Ottawa ON. In 1961 she was owned by Tide Bay Dredging Co. Ltd., New Westminster BC. (In 1922 she worked on the Sumas Lake reclamation project.)

King Edward

King Edward Dredge (Photo courtesy MMBC. )

TEXT

Dredge Bucket (Photo courtesy MMBC. )

Lobnitz Rock Cutter No. 1

Lobnitz Rock Cutter No. 1 (Photo courtesy MMBC. )

She was designed and built at Renfrew Scotland by Lobnitz & Co. shipbuilders. The original design for Lobnitz rock breakers was patented in the late 19th century, and Lobnitz & Co. was very successful with over 100 vessels supplied to contractors all over the world. a Lobnitz rock breaker as it proved to be cheaper and more effective than the alternative method of rock blasting by explosives. The cutters weigh between 6 and 22 tons and their special steel points penetrate the hardest rock. The Lobnitz patent underwater guide, in the form of a vertical tube enables the rock-breakers to work to depths of about 20 metres.


To quote from this article please cite:

MacFarlane, John M. (2017) A Gallery of Early Canadian Dredges on the British Columbia Coast. Nauticapedia.ca 2017. http://nauticapedia.ca/Gallery/Dredges.php

Nauticapedia

Site News: December 21, 2024

The vessel database has been updated and is now holding 94,824 vessel histories (with 16,274 images and 13,929 records of ship wrecks and marine disasters).

Vessel records are currently being reviewed and updated with more than 45,000 processed so far this year (2024).

The mariner and naval biography database has also been updated and now contains 58,599 entries (with 3996 images).

Thanks to Ray Warren who is beginning a long process of filling gaps in the photo record of vessel histories in the database. Ray has been documenting the ships of Vancouver Harbour for more than 60 years.

Thanks to contributor Mike Rydqvist McCammon for the hundreds of photos he has contributed to illustrate British Columbia’s floating heritage.

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