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UER Forum > Archived US: Pacific Northwest > Alaska's historic dredges being scrapped (Viewed 632 times)
Freak 


Location: Usually Alaska, now MSP.
Gender: Male


Hypocrite

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Alaska's historic dredges being scrapped
< on 1/8/2013 5:13 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
I was perusing some recent aerial photos of Fairbanks, and noticed some of my favorite abandonments had gone missing! It turns out that the state is grabbing old gold dredges and shipping them to Korea for scrap metal! The only reason some of these lasted so long was their remoteness, and the difficulty of removing them in the 40s and 50s when dredging ended. Sadly it seems that scrap metal prices, combined with improved transportation, has meant that these historic machines can now be chopped up and turned into cheap foreign cars

And of course, if you tried to visit them before they got scrapped, you'd get chased off by angry hillbillies, threatened by nutty weed farmers living in gravel pits, and hassled by state troopers.

Dredge #5 is gone... despite being on the National Historic Register.
http://dfgis.dyndn...0/df/dredge5.htm#2
http://www.nationa...h+Star/vacant.html


This was one of my favorite sites, the dredge wasn't that big, but it had sunk in a small pond, which then froze in the winter, leading to a cool indoor skating rink effect.



More photos of #5: http://dfgis.dyndn...080/df/dredge5.htm



It looks like #6 is gone as well. I never got any good photos of this one thanks to the TSA.


http://dfgis.dyndn...080/df/dredge6.htm

Here are a few photos from Flickr: http://www.flickr....9/with/4196057184/

I think AKPhill had a few, but I'm not finding them on here anymore.



And supposedly the state's crack team of safety nazis destroyed the Jack Wade dredge in 2010, as it was a "Threat to public saftey". AKA: "Too awesome to live", as it may have caused overweight Florida tourists to strain a muscle trying to walk up close to get photos, or, heaven forbid, some teenager might have actually touched it and needed a tetanus shot!
http://www.blm.gov...k_wade_dredge.html


Another forum with some details on the scrapping, and exploration photos of some of these dredges:
http://www.akminin...8fc42d1335dda899fc

News article: http://www.adn.com...xport-at-port.html

And the Yukon is jumping on the bandwagon too! Why keep a boring old piece of industrial history out in the open where people can see it, when you can cut it up and hide the bits away in your house?
http://klondikedredgewood.com/

I once had every Fairbanks dredge on my to-do list, and only missed a few (the one at Fairbanks Creek, which we killed a pickup trying to get to, the one at Fish Creek, which the Fort Knox mine assholes bulldozed, and the touristy one, because... why the fuck would I pay to visit a tarted up little sanitized tourist-friendly BS dredge? I always hoped to get out to some of the others in the state, but if this trend continues, all the road-accessible ones are going to be gone!

Here's Tc_Villain's photos of the Fairbanks Creek dredge:
http://www.uer.ca/...d=1&threadid=72208

I guess it remains to be seen which other dredges survive. Maybe Alaska can move on to scrapping other historic sites when they run out of these. At least we'll always have fake plywood models at theme parks to remind us of our history!






Turn off the internet and go play outside.
http://spamusement...hp/comics/view/137
crows 


Location: Eastern Iowa


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Re: Alaska's historic dredges being scrapped
<Reply # 1 on 1/8/2013 5:58 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Alaska. Clearly I missed my opportunity to have a strong talk with you while I was up there.

If they want scrap to turn into cheap foreign cars, why don't they haul out the already scrapped cheap foreign (and domestic) cars in Butte? I swear, every house has like... a dozen rusting in the yard.

input: bacon | output: fiction
AKphill 


Location: Anchorage, Alaska
Gender: Male


Exploring the 49th state.

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Re: Alaska's historic dredges being scrapped
<Reply # 2 on 1/9/2013 6:10 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Woah, 5 and 6 are gone?!! When the hell did this happen?!! Totally not cool. Are there any recent photos or articles mentioning this? I hope they don't get tot he other dredges. #3 is probably the next one to go sadly as its right by the road and its falling apart as it is from vandals and taggers. I'm surprised the tailings stacker is still up even after all this time with only a stuck winch keeping it up. Dredge 10 is safe just because its floating in that pond, though I've seen more mining activity around the pond. Sad times man...we're losing so many sites now. Summit, the dredges, what next? If Buckner falls then there's no hope. What's left in the state will be expensive to get to.

Freak 


Location: Usually Alaska, now MSP.
Gender: Male


Hypocrite

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Re: Alaska's historic dredges being scrapped
<Reply # 3 on 1/9/2013 3:19 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
This gold prospecting forum had some info: http://www.akminin...8fc42d1335dda899fc

(The first guy's set of photos don't seem to work).

And this was the news article:
http://www.adn.com...xport-at-port.html

Here's the article on the BLM scrapping the Jack Wade dredge:
http://www.petrole...te/918333104.shtml

I'm sure they'd try the Lost Chicken dredge if they could get to it, but maybe they'd claim it isn't as much of a "safety hazard" since only dumb locals can get to it and not rich tourists.


[last edit 1/9/2013 3:41 PM by Freak - edited 1 times]

Turn off the internet and go play outside.
http://spamusement...hp/comics/view/137
AKphill 


Location: Anchorage, Alaska
Gender: Male


Exploring the 49th state.

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Re: Alaska's historic dredges being scrapped
<Reply # 4 on 1/9/2013 9:09 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Shows just how far our society has fallen that we feel the need to scrap our history like its nothing. Looking at those recent aerials there is now active mining going on at Dredge 10's pond. Thankfully it, the crane, feeder, and other equipment are still there. Dredge 3 is also still there, but for how long I don't know. I'd love to see that one or 10 fixed up. It would be some work, but well worth it. Dredge 2 is likely not going anywhere and good thing cause it's the best preserved of them all.

I've made my DB entries of 5 and 6 public. I hope they don't start going after the old mine sites next like Hi-Yu or Cleary Hill. In all honesty those places should be preserved and fixed up.

They better not start scrapping the dredges in Nome. One of these days I will get out there to explore them.

Freak 


Location: Usually Alaska, now MSP.
Gender: Male


Hypocrite

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Re: Alaska's historic dredges being scrapped
<Reply # 5 on 1/9/2013 10:34 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
I can send you a list of all the dredges I know of. There are actually quite a few closer to Fairbanks than Nome, not sure about accessibility though!

I was reading through the NHPR and it claims that Dredge #2 on Fairbanks Creek is in the best shape, and "in operating condition" as of 1999. I think the buckets are all off though, they'd have to hassle half of Fairbanks to give up their flower planters to get that running again


Turn off the internet and go play outside.
http://spamusement...hp/comics/view/137
UER Forum > Archived US: Pacific Northwest > Alaska's historic dredges being scrapped (Viewed 632 times)



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