As the weather warmed
and spring came into full bloom, the Passaic Valley Sewerage
Commissioners (PVSC) began the fulltime operation of the 50-foot
TRASHCAT™ skimmer boat, the SV Newark Bay. Five days a week the
SV Newark Bay travels up and down the Passaic River picking up
branches, logs, bottles, cans, and the occasional shopping cart
from the river's surface.
TRASHCAT™ clearing debris on the
Passaic River
"We can already
see a noticeable difference in the amount of debris in the
river," stated Tom Curry, member of the Nereid Boat Club,
"There is definitely a reduction in the amount of vegetation
and trash, and it is clearly linked to the effectiveness of the
skimmer boat. The amount of trash and debris in the Passaic River
can make rowing difficult and even dangerous, as the hull of the
rowing shell is very delicate and easily damaged."
SV Newark Bay's Three-Man Crew
Skimming the Waters
The skimmer boat,
designed and built by United Marine International, is operated by
a three-man crew of PVSC employees. One crewman drives the boat
while the other two look for floating trash on the river and keep
the 26 cubic yard holding area and cargo doors free from collected
debris. The boat has a single engine that provides power to two
propellers, one located at the rear of each pontoon. This design
allows the skimmer boat great flexibility of movement. Similar to
a bulldozer, the boat can move forward and backwards and rotate in
either direction 360 degrees. The cargo holding area and hydraulic
cargo doors are designed with a conveyor that enables the skimmer
boat to pull floatables in from the river. The maneuverability of
the boat and cargo doors allow the crew to get into hard-to-reach
spots, such as pulling right up alongside a bulkhead.
Depending on tides and
recent rainfall, the amount of debris on the Passaic River can
vary greatly. Some days there is a substantial amount of
vegetation and floatables in the river that has been drawn
together and is easily collected and removed. On other days the
crew must aggressively search for debris that are strewn
throughout the river as individual items to fill the holding area.
SV Newark Bay shown docked at PVSC's plant
Currently, the boat is
docked in Newark Bay at the PVSC plant where the collected debris
are removed into a dumpster. To increase efficiency, PVSC has
begun experimenting with the use of a mobile shoreline conveyor
system to offload the skimmer boat at various locations along the
river on days when the river is full of debris and the boat is
quickly filled.
Source: Passaic River Restoration Report Fall
2000 Volume I, Issue 2
(United Marine
International is a subsidiary of Liquid
Waste Technology, Inc.)
