First established as the Ellicott Machine Company in 1885, Ellicott Dredges is one of the oldest manufacturers in the world that specializes in the design and building of

dredges Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...

and dredge machinery. Throughout its 125 years of existence, Ellicott has built over 1,500 dredges and exported to over 80 countries.

History

By 1783, brothers

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

and Andrew Ellicott were well established flour exporters and operators of the largest flour mill on the East coast US –

Ellicott Mills Ellicott City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in, and the county seat of, Howard County, Maryland, United States. Part of the Baltimore metropolitan area, its population was 65,834 at the 2010 census, making it the mo ...

. To accommodate their export business, the Ellicott brothers built a warehouse and wharf at Pratt and Light Streets on the Baltimore harbor. To maintain the wharf's water depth, and continue to bring in ships, the Ellicotts commonly utilized horse drawn scoops to remove sediment from the harbor. In 1785, the Ellicotts designed and built their first dredge, the Mud Machine. Their efforts have been documented as the first dredging effort in the Baltimore harbor. In the same year, Maryland's assembly established a board of port wardens to oversee the management of the Baltimore port and its dredging needs. In 1790, the wardens approved the first use of mud machines throughout the harbor. In 1827, the federal government recognizing the importance of the

Port of Baltimore Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore is a shipping port along the tidal basins of the three branches of the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland on the upper northwest shore of the Chesapeake Bay. It is the nation's largest port facilities f ...

and its location on the B&O railroad, approved funding for an ongoing Baltimore harbor dredging program. To initiate the program, the Maryland state senate purchased ten Mud Machines from the Ellicott brothers. Shortly thereafter, horses were replaced by steam engines on the Mud Machine crafting the first power driven dredge in the US. Ellicott Dredges built the cutter dredges used in construction of the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

. The first machine delivered was a steam-driven, 900 HP, 20-inch dredge. In 1941, Ellicott Dredges also built the dredge MINDI, a 10,000 HP, 28-inch cutter suction dredge still operating in the Panama Canal. Currently, Ellicott has sold over 1,500 dredges to 80 different countries. Their cutter dredges can be used for a variety of applications including

coastal protection Coastal management is defence against flooding and erosion, and techniques that stop erosion to claim lands. Protection against rising sea levels in the 21st century is crucial, as sea level rise accelerates due to climate change. Changes in s ...

sand mining Sand mining is the extraction of sand, mainly through an open pit (or sand pit) but sometimes mined from beaches and inland dunes or dredged from ocean and river beds. Sand is often used in manufacturing, for example as an abrasive or in concret ...

, and

land reclamation Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamati ...

.{{Citation needed, date=September 2010

References

Manufacturing companies based in Baltimore