Floating excavator deployed in St. Paul to clear driftwood

LS Marine Inc. deployed a floating excavator situated on a barge this week to remove driftwood from Raspberry Island, located in the Mississippi River just outside downtown St. Paul.

The company, based in Inver Grove Heights, expects to haul more than 40 truckloads of wood from the island and nearby public docks on behalf of the city. The wood will be taken by barge to the Southport Terminal, south of the St. Paul Municipal Airport, where it will be cut up, and then hauled by trucks to a contractor for chipping, shredding and reuse.

Taylor Luke, president and owner of LS Marine, said much of the driftwood is underwater and not immediately visible to the eye. He said he expects the work, which began Monday, to continue through Friday.

"It happens any time basically you have high water," Luke said. "The river system everywhere gets inundated with drift debris that catches on something."

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