Hot take: The new dredge site near Port Arthur doesn't need that fancy cutterhead upgrade

I spent last Tuesday out at the Port Arthur site watching them set up a brand new $50,000 cutterhead system on the dredge. Everyone in the crew was excited about it, but I just don't see the big deal. The old setup handled the sandy silt just fine for the last 4 years, and we haven't hit a single hard spot that would need that extra torque. Am I wrong for thinking this is just overkill for the kind of material we deal with around here?

3 comments

3 Comments

lisab322d ago

Couldn't agree more, I watched a similar upgrade get dropped in up in Sabine Pass last year and it did absolutely nothing for them. The old gear was already chewing through that soft bottom like butter, now they've got a shiny paperweight bolted on for twice the maintenance headaches. Why fix what wasn't broke in the first place, right?

anthony_jackson312d ago

That $50k could've bought a lot of new cutter teeth, is what I'm hearing?

alex8201d ago

Yeah, that's the thing. @anthony_jackson31 brings up a good point. It's not just about the gear itself, it's about how people always seem to throw money at the newest thing without checking if the old stuff was even the problem. I see this all the time at work and around town. People swap out perfectly good tools or machines because a new model comes out, then they're stuck with something that needs more upkeep and doesn't do the job any better. It's like everyone's scared of being left behind, so they buy into the hype first and ask questions later. That 50k probably would've bought a lot of teeth and a few backup parts too.