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Waterlog Recovery |
In November 1895, a steam-barge named Michael Groh carrying a heavy load of timber ran into high winds and heavy seas off Grand Island in Lake Superior, Mich. After losing two-thirds of her cargo in the storm, the Michael Groh crashed into a rock reef and was destroyed.
More than a century later, a student in Cal Poly Pomona's ocean engineering program placed a weighted block of wood in 25 feet of salt water at Big Fisherman's cove on Catalina Island. The wood, a replica of the type of hardwood timber lost by shipwrecked vesels in the 18th and 19 centuries, is part of Christina Sählbrandt's research project. She and her team hope to develop a remote-operated vehicle (ROV) capable of raising centuries-old hardwood logs from the bottom of the Great Lakes.
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| Christina Sählbrandt (right) and Everett Mundkowsky attempt to submerge a hardwood log in the waters of Catalina Island. |
"A lot of the logs fell to the bottom of Lake Superior and have been sitting down there for a hundred or more years," she says. "The water is cold, so they haven't deteriorated. I'd like to bring them back up again."
As part of her coursework, Sählbrandt and her team have hooked up with Kelhart Marine in Michigan, which has a state permit to recover submerged logs from Great Traverse Bay. Featuring up to 70 growth rings (today's hardwoods average only 3-5 growth rings), the logs have unique acoustic properties due to cellular changes brought about by being submerged in water and are ideal for making musical instruments. They are also perfect for crafting heirloom-quality furniture.
In January, Sählbrandt and her team returned to Catalina Island, attempting to raise their sunken log using ROV technology. It isn't easy as it looks, even when conditions are perfect.
"Once you go underwater, it is so much more difficult," she says. "It took us 29 minutes to tie a piece of wood to the anchor chain."
Sählbrandt has applied for funding from the National Science Foundation to further her work on this innovative technology. She credits the university's ocean engineering program for creating new opportunities.
"Look at me," she says, laughing. "I'm deep-sea diving, I'm working with ROVs, I'm writing grants. This is a very special program.
Questions or comments? Please email publicaffair@csupomona.edu.