Mudder boat
A mudder boat is a historical type of boat that was used to keep the access channel to a sluice free.
The sewage sites in the Wadden region live with the constant problem that the depths of the access channels are constantly decreasing due to siltation. So-called mudder boats were used in the 19th century until the middle of the 20th century to remove the shallow depths.
The mudder boat consists of a heavy boat with a mighty wing attached to the stern on each side. Together with another rear section, this resulted in an approximately 12-meter-long lowerable rear wall. Mudder boats do not have an independent drive, but were powered solely by water power. For this purpose, the sluice gate was opened at high tide so that the North Sea water could flow into the deep inward. The gate was then closed and the water was stored behind the gate. Now the mudder boat was brought into the access channel in front of the gate by pegs. The gate was opened about an hour before low tide and the outflowing backwater wave pushed the mudder boat lying in front of the gate with the lowered wings through the access channel. Depending on the degree of wing sinking, more or less silt was pushed into the North Sea with the ebb current .
In the North Sea resort of Hooksiel in Lower Saxony there is a freely accessible historical mudder boat that is exhibited on the dike on the south side of the old port . It was in service in Hooksiel from 1837 to the 1950s.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Planning of a port facility in front of the outer port of Hooksiel, page 4 (PDF; 3.6 MB)
- ^ Mudder boat returns to port , accessed on July 10, 2015