Abandoned Dredger, Guanapo, Trinidad

[Trinpaul]

These pictures were taken in the late 1980's and scanned.

This is an abandoned dredger located in one of the many large ponds and lakes in Guanapo which is south or Arima. A large number of mining operations for aggregates still take place in the area even though it was heavily mined during WW2 by the Americans for their construction programs. The problem is that after the Americans mined an area they would fill in the holes and it would then become overgrown with vegetation very quickly so that today some areas tend to be a "hit and miss" since you may be digging in an area that's already been stripped clean. The lakes have a lot of caimen (alligators) so swimming is a no-no. Today, large scale dumping of rubbish, chicken guts (from farms nearby) and the occasional body makes it a dangerous place to be at the best of times.

 

[Foxylady]

Wow, that's great...I really like that. It must have been very interesting to have a mooch around that.
Enjoyed reading the history about the mining too. Cheers.

 

[oldscrote]

Great beasty man,pity it wouldn't fit on the local canal it would certainly turn a few heads in darkest Wiltshire.

 

[MaBs]

Love old boats and ships, that looks fantastic any idea how long it had been there?

 

[Lightbuoy]

Great beasty man,pity it wouldn't fit on the local canal it would certainly turn a few heads in darkest Wiltshire.

Ah, just get a bit of a run-up & throw in some Nitro!!!

On the serious side though, a good "back in the day" Report -the history was an interesting read. Thanks,

Lb :jimlad:

 

[Trinpaul]

Love old boats and ships, that looks fantastic any idea how long it had been there?

As I recall, the "emblem" on the funnel is that of a Japanese company and I think this would date from around the time when several Japanese companies were here in the early to mid 1970's when the Pt. Lisas Industrial Estate was being developed. I have'nt been to Guanapo in ages so I don't even know if it's still there. It may have sunk or been cut up for scrap iron.