Bay City Walking Dredge RDF-08

The Bay City Walking Dredge  # 489 was built in  Michigan in 1924. It was purchased by a construction company controlled by real-estate developer Barron Collier.  Collier had pledged to help Lee County complete its portion of the Tamiami Trail because he owned land and businesses that would profit from the new route.  Collier County was formed from the Southern portion of Lee County and was named in honor of him.

It was designed to “Walk” over wet and swampy land where wheeled or tracked vehicles would bog down.  There were two sets of shoes that would alternately support the weight of the dredge and then be winched forward. The steam engine that powered the one cubic yard dredge bucket would be used to pull cables through pulleys to slide the feet forward. The dredge is held together mostly by bolts, and there are very few welds on the machine.

The crew would blast canals on either side of the path of the trail. The dredge would then scoop up the debris rock and pile it to make a roadbed.

The Bay City Walking Dredge worked on the Tamiami Trail 18 hours a day from 1927 thru 1928. Supervisors Earl W.Ivey and Meece Ellis worked the dredge crew from Blackwater River to the Northwest to Belle Meade Crossing.  After the project it was stored on land owned by Meece Ellis not far from where it sits today.  The dredge was moved to a county park about 1940. In 1947 that county park became Collier-Seminole State Park. 

In 1993 The Bay City Walking Dredge was named a National Historic Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. It is the last known Dredge of its type. It is on display near the entrance of Collier Seminole State Park.

(C) 2012 Will Holcomb
Boardwalks and Long Walks : Rediscovering Florida