Keene.com - Keen Shoes Keene Dredges V4

Keene Gold Dredge Drege Modern dredging equipment may be divided into four main classes. The grab dredge is used where the amount of excavation is relatively small. The Keen Newport sandals are a unique take on an old design for sandals. It consists of one or more grab buckets, operated by cranes mounted on a vessel or barge or sometimes on the shore. The outer sole is the part that touches the road and it is attached directly to the inner sole which is the part that touches the bottom of the foot. Each bucket has jaws that are hinged together. The bucket is lowered to the bottom with its jaws open and pointing down. When it sinks into the material to be dredged, its jaws close. The material can then be lifted to the surface and discharged into a hopper for removal to a disposal area. The dipper dredge, also known as the boom-and-dipper assembly, is similar in appearance to a land power shovel. It is used extensively in canal construction and was employed in the cutting of the Panama Canal. In the case of the H2's the straps are polyester webbing over a neoprene type material similar to a thin wetsuit. I had tried the shoes on at the store so I knew that they should fit me well, and after arrival I was not disappointed. They were a perfect fit. I tried them around the house and neighborhood at first to see if I needed to adjust how tightly they fit for optimum comfort. The ladder-bucket dredge, a more elaborate type, is generally mounted on a self-propelling vessel built with a longitudinal well in the center, open to the water beneath for a considerable length. Mounted and hinged over the well is a long steel frame, which may be raised or lowered at will; it is equipped with a long string of buckets passing over sprockets at each end. The buckets, operating through the well, scoop up material from the bottom and discharge it into a chute that projects over the vessel's side to a hopper barge moored alongside or into a receiving hopper in the dredge itself. The suction dredge, or hydraulic dredge, an entirely different type, is used principally where material such as sand or mud is to be removed. It consists of a flexible pipe connected at one end to a powerful centrifugal pump. At the other, open end there is usually a device designed to break up the material to be dredged. The open end of the pipe is lowered to the bottom, where the material to be dredged is mixed with water, pumped up, and then discharged into hopper barges. There the heavy material settles, and the surplus water is allowed to overflow. Material from these dredges is sometimes pumped through pipes for long distances and used to build up low-lying ground. Hopper barges made to carry away and sink the material brought up by dredges are of a special type. In the space where the material is carried are hinged doors, or flaps, held closed by chains and opening downward. Around the space are watertight compartmsents to give the barge buoyancy. When the dredge is above the disposal area, the bottom doors are released and the material discharged the doors are then closed again by winches. They were a perfect fit. I tried them around the house and neighborhood at first to see if I needed to adjust how tightly they fit for optimum comfort. I also tried them with and without socks. After determining that the Newport were quite comfortable and enjoyable to wear with little or no adjustment, I decided to take them out and see how they did on uneven terrain. I'll talk more about the H2's performance over different terrain later in the report, but for now I'll talk about what I used them for. I started out wearing them to work. I work in retail so I am a) on my feet for 8 to 9 hours a day, and b) constantly moving from place to place and from standing to kneeling to crouching as I demonstrate products or assist customers. I found the Newport H2's to be a very comfortable alternative to regular work style shoes.I also used the H2's for general running around, casual visits to friends and family, hiking, playing, driving, walking, boating, etc. My initial impressions were all positive. Good comfort, easy fit, nice traction, and best of all, I could get them wet without ruining them or having them take days to dry out.