Dredges Built in the U.S. Since WWII
Most recent update: May 9, 2020.
Until 1960, most of the dredging of U.S. ports and waterways was done by the Corps of Engineers, using their own equipment. In the early 1960s, however, the Merchant Marine Act was modified to allow private-sector contractors to take up the load: in addition, the Jones Act was modified to include dredge spoil. As a result, all the new private-sector dredges had to be US-built as well as US-operated. These changes resulted in all but one of the Corps' dredges being retired and there was a boom in private-sector dredge construction in the 1970s and 80s. The table below lists all the large dredges built since WWII by year built.
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Builder | Location | O/N | Name | Customer | Type | Capacity (CY) | GT | LOA | Price ($M) | Delivered | Notes | |
Corps of Engineers Dredges (13) | ||||||||||||
Ingalls SB | Pascagoula MS | 500 | Comber | USACE | TSHD | 2,300 | 6,000 | 352 | 1947 | scrapped | ||
Ingalls SB | Pascagoula MS | 501 | Gerig | USACE | TSHD | 2,300 | 6,000 | 352 | 1947 | scrapped 1991 | ||
Ingalls SB | Pascagoula MS | 502 | Langfitt | USACE | TSHD | 2,300 | 6,000 | 352 | 1947 | scrapped | ||
Ingalls SB | Pascagoula MS | 503 | Biddle | USACE | TSHD | 2,300 | 6,000 | 352 | 1947 | scrapped | ||
Sun Ship | Chester PA | 565 | Essayons | USACE | TSHD | 6,100 | 12,000 | 525 | 1950 | scrapped | ||
Avondale | Avondale LA | 904 | Markham | USACE | TSHD | 2,070 | 5,400 | 339 | 1960 | reefed 1994 | ||
Bethlehem Steel | Sparrows Point MD | 4608 | McFarland | USACE | TSHD | 3,140 | 6,000 | 300 | 15 | 1967 | ||
Norshipco | Norfolk VA | 168 | Yaquina | USACE | TSHD | 1,020 | 1,960 | 193 | 14 | 1981 | ||
Avondale | Avondale LA | 2322 | Wheeler | USACE | TSHD | 8,256 | 12,000 | 381 | 67 | 1982 | ||
Bath Iron Works | Bath ME | 402 | Essayons | USACE | TSHD | 6,000 | 12,000 | 350 | 65 | 1982 | ||
Halter Marine | Moss Point MS | 1247 | Hurley | USACE | DP | 350 | 1983 | |||||
LeTourneau Ind. | Vickburg MS | 229 | Goetz | USACE | CSD | 200 | 2005 | |||||
Conrad SY | Morgan City LA | 896 | Murden | USACE | TSHD | 150 | 2012 | |||||
Commercial Dredges (40) | ||||||||||||
Tampa Marine | Tampa FL | Export | Roosevelt | Mining Equipment Co. | 3,800 | 1947 | scrapped | |||||
Tampa Marine | Tampa FL | Export | Stuyvesant | Mining Equipment Co. | 3,800 | 1947 | scrapped | |||||
Gulfport SB | Port Arthur TX | 341 | Export | Ciudad de Barranquilla | Govt. of Colombia | 3,715 | 1949 | scrapped 1984 | ||||
Todd Houston | Houston TX | 245 | 283416 | Alaska | Great Lakes Dredge & Dock | CSD | 1,433 | 220 | 1960 | |||
American Marine | New Orleans LA | 290028 | Pontchartrain | Great Lakes Dredge & Dock | CSD | 656 | 170 | 1962 | ||||
Avondale | Avondale LA | 1019 | 292779 | California | Great Lakes Dredge & Dock | CSD | 1,109 | 190 | 1962 | |||
NASSCO | San Diego CA | 332 | 506446 | Sensibar Bros. | Sensibar Brothers | CSD | 1,109 | 190 | 1962 | later Florida | ||
Avondale | Avondale LA | 1033 | 292613 | Fritz Jahncke | Jahncke Services | CSD | 1,300 | 186 | 1963 | later G. D. Morgan | ||
Todd Houston | Houston TX | 567 | 532555 | Ezra Sensibar | Sensibar Brothers | TSHD | 16,000 | 10,300 | 500 | 1971 | later Long Island, scrapped | |
Bean, C. F. | Belle Chasse LA | 30 | 552707 | Jim Bean | Great Lakes Dredge & Dock | CSD | 2,349 | 263 | 1973 | later Carolina | ||
Avondale | Avondale LA | 2269 | 560225 | G. L. 54 | Great Lakes Dredge & Dock | CSD | 1,100 | 185 | 1973 | inactive | ||
Avondale | Avondale LA | 2302 | 580274 | Illinois | Great Lakes Dredge & Dock | CSD | 1,400 | 220 | 1977 | |||
Southern Sbldg. | Slidell LA | 117 | 583706 | Manhattan Island | Ballast Nedam Dredging | TSHD | 3,600 | 2,400 | 281 | 14 | 1977 | (Marshall I.) |
Zidell Marine | Portland OR | 607 | 592239 | Westport | Manson Construction Co. | TSHD | 1,800 | 851 | 180 | 1978 | ||
Southern Sbldg. | Slidell LA | 119 | 606519 | sugar Island | Ballast Nedam Dredging | TSHD | 3,600 | 2,400 | 281 | 14 | 1979 | (Marshall I.) |
Bergeron | Braithwaite LA | 1123 | 627368 | Texas | Great Lakes Dredge & Dock | CSD | 3,479 | 305 | 1979 | |||
Twin-City Dock | Saint Paul MN | 552 | 630008 | Atchafalaya | Gulf Coast Dredging | TSHD | 1,300 | 850 | 195 | 1980 | ||
Southern Sbldg. | Slidell LA | 120 | 625328 | Dodge Island | Ballast Nedam Dredging | TSHD | 3,600 | 2,400 | 281 | 16 | 1980 | |
Twin-City Dock | Saint Paul MN | 668 | 643740 | Mermentau | Gulf Coast Dredging | TSHD | 1,300 | 850 | 195 | 1981 | (Colombia) | |
Avondale | Avondale LA | 2320 | 630823 | Eagle 1 | Bean Dredging | TSHD | 6,600 | 5,700 | 316 | 38 | 1981 | later Terrapin Island |
Southern Sbldg. | Slidell LA | 123 | 639291 | Padre Island | Ballast Nedam Dredging | TSHD | 3,600 | 2,400 | 281 | 18 | 1981 | |
Avondale | Avondale LA | 2332 | 648540 | Stuyvesant | Stuyvesant Dredging | TSHD | 11,200 | 7,110 | 368 | 30 | 1982 | |
Barnett Marine | New Orleans LA | 98 | 654551 | Meridian | Bean-Horizon, Inc. | CSD | 1,693 | 113 | 1982 | later E. W. Ellefsen | ||
Moss Point Marine | Escatawpa MS | 25 | 644880 | Beachbuilder | Great Lakes Dredge & Dock | CSD | 3,005 | 275 | 1982 | later Ohio | ||
Nichols Bros. | Freeland WA | 67 | 658434 | Newport | Manson Construction | CSD | 2,500 | 262 | 1983 | |||
Southern Sbldg. | Slidell LA | 126 | 664129 | Northerly Island | Ballast Nedam Dredging | TSHD | 2,160 | 2,400 | 281 | 25 | 1983 | (Marshall I.) |
Twin-City Dock | Saint Paul MN | 885 | 685093 | Ouachita | Gulf Coast Dredging | TSHD | 4,150 | 3,400 | 295 | 25 | 1985 | later B. E. Lindholm |
McDermott SB | Amelia LA | 276 | 908078 | Atlantic American | Atlantic American Dredging | TSHD | 4,000 | 2,700 | 292 | 14 | 1987 | later R. N. Weeks |
Gunderson | Portland OR | 44 | 1048828 | Bayport | Manson Construction Co. | TSHD | 5,000 | 2,151 | 300 | 1996 | ||
Gunderson | Portland OR | 47 | 1073113 | Mr. Manson II | Manson Construction Co. | CSD | 1,694 | 215 | 1997 | later H. R. Morris | ||
Great Lakes Dredge | Chicago IL | 17 | 1142982 | Arizona | Great Lakes Dredge & Dock | CSD | 646 | 220 | 1997 | |||
Bay Shipbuilding | Sturgeon Bay WI | 744 | 1077537 | New York | Great Lakes Dredge | BD | 1,485 | 200 | 1999 | |||
Bay Shipbuilding | Sturgeon Bay WI | 746 | 1117966 | Liberty Island | Great Lakes Dredge | TSHD | 6,540 | 5,300 | 315 | 52 | 2002 | |
Bay Shipbuilding | Sturgeon Bay WI | 747 | 1102692 | James B | Lake Michigan Contractors | CSD | 1,679 | 247 | 2002 | later Charleston | ||
Alabama | Mobile AL | 100 | 1180182 | Glenn Edwards | Manson Construction | TSHD | 9,180 | 9,500 | 711 | 2006 | ||
Eastern Shipbuilding | Panama City FL | 253 | 1256673 | Ellis Island | Great Lakes Dredge | TSHD | 9,976 | 374 | 2017 | |||
Eastern Shipbuilding | Panama City FL | 256 | 1266740 | Magdalen | Weeks Marine | TSHD | 7,581 | 326 | 2017 | |||
Corn Island SY | Lamar IN | 323 | 1266767 | Weeks 321 | Weeks Marine | TSHD | 4,366 | 340 | 2018 | |||
C & C Marine | Houma LA | 307 | 1278460 | J. S. Chatry | Weeks Marine | TSHD | 4,811 | 310 | 2019 | |||
Eastern Shipbuilding | Panama City FL | 258 | R. B. Weeks | Weeks Marine | TSHD | 7,581 | 326 | 2023 |