Seagoing Boom Type Dredge Draghead with Sea Turtle Deflector

The US Army Corps of Engineers has a mission to maintain navigation on US Federal navigation projects in the United States.  Most navigation channels require regular dredging to maintain adequate channel depths.  Trailing suction hopper dredges are routinely used to maintain many deep draft channels and, unfortunately, the dredge's dragheads used to remove sediments from the bottom can entrain sea turtles resting in or on the bottom.  This project was initiated to develop a customized draghead that would reduce or eliminate the uptake of sea turtles during dredging operations by gently deflecting them from the path of the dredge.