In its mission to remove hazardous debris from San Francisco Bay, crewmembers of the USACE Drift Collector Raccoon get off to an early start to snag a multitude of large woody and other debris lodged along the shores of the Oakland Estuary and many other areas around the bay and the delta. On this day, the crew uses king tides to their advantage as they access several hard-to-reach areas near Brooklyn Basin. Deploying a work skiff called the Trash Panda, the small boat's two-person crew uses pike poles to hook the debris and drag it into open water where a crane operator onboard the Raccoon loads it onto the deck or the Raccoon scoops it into the chain link net underneath the front of the hull. The Raccoon collects an average of 1.5...
Even a workhorse like the USACE Drift Collector John A. B. Dillard Jr., needs some TLC from time to time. On Oct. 7, 2024, the U.S Army Corps of Engineers San Francisco District debris removal vessel went into drydock at a shipyard in Alameda, Calif., to begin routine hull maintenance and repairs.
