P.W.D. 250 – Sternwheeler Dredge

by John MacFarlane 2020

PWD 250

P.W.D. 250 in 1984 at Fort McMurray AB. (Photo from the Dwight R. LaRiviere collection.)

I was recently sent a sequence of images that Dwight R. LaRiviere took in 1984. He wrote that he was the Fleet Engineer when she was hauled out at Fort McMurray.

PWD 250

P.W.D. 250 in 1984 at Fort McMurray AB. (Photo from the Dwight R. LaRiviere collection.)

The P.W.D. No. 250 176520 (Canada) was a river dredge built in 1946 at Edmonton AB. About 1979 she was renamed as D.P.W. 250 and about 2003 she was renamed as D 250. 100.1’ x 24.6’ x 5.7’ (30.5m) steel hulled 135hp engine. In 1953 she was rebuilt at Waterways AB. In 1946–1979 she was owned by The Minister of Public Works, Ottawa ON. In 2001–2003 she was owned by the Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Ottawa ON.

PWD 250

P.W.D. 250 (Photo from the Dwight R. LaRiviere collection.)

The vessel was handled by some heavy construction machinery on a riverside skidway.

PWD 250

P.W.D. 250 (Photo from the Dwight R. LaRiviere collection.)

When the vessel was retired the federal government deposited the vessel in the collection of the Fort McMurray Heritage Shipyard where it has been restored and put on display.



To quote from this article please cite:

MacFarlane, John (2020) P.W.D. 250 – Sternwheeler Dredge. Nauticapedia.ca 2020. http://nauticapedia.ca/Gallery/PWD250.php

Nauticapedia

Site News: May 08, 2024

The vessel database has been updated and is now holding 92,807 vessel histories (with 15,646 images and 13,442 records of ship wrecks and marine disasters). The mariner and naval biography database has also been updated and now contains 58,616 entries (with 4,013 images).

In 2023 the Nauticapedia celebrated the 50th Anniversary of it’s original inception in 1973 (initially it was on 3" x 5" file cards). It has developed, expanded, digitized and enlarged in those ensuing years to what it is now online. If it was printed out it would fill more than 300,000 pages!

My special thanks to our volunteer IT adviser, John Eyre, who (since 2021) has modernized, simplified and improved the update process for the databases into a semi–automated processes. His participation has been vital to keeping the Nauticapedia available to our netizens.

Also my special thanks to my volunteer content accuracy checker, John Spivey of Irvine CA USA, who has proofread thousands of Nauticapedia vessel histories and provided input to improve more than 11,000 entries. His attention to detail has been a huge unexpected bonus in improving and updating the vessel detail content.


© 2002-2023