WE HAVA-HISTORY

Tree Stumps Being Removed From the Lake Article from the News Herald,  April 27, 1967

           A hydraulically– powered barge equipped with a chain saw boom has begun removal of 305 submerged trees as an aid to water navigation in Lake Havasu.
             The trees, “drowned” when Lake Havasu was created by the construction of Parke Dam in 1938, are being removed by the Werden Excavation Co. in a specially-designed barge built by sub-contractor Stoll & Robbins of Santee, CA, near San Diego.  Contract was let by the bureau of Reclamation for $16,500.
            Harry Robbins, president of S & R, said that the operation will clear the lake of 1300 water acres of trees, or a two square-mile area.  The trees were tagged for destruction by the bureau using skin divers and a helicopter.  The trees had been left to aid the propagation of local fish  life.
             A 48” McCulloch chain and blade on a boom powered by a 40-hp Continental engine cuts the waterlogged stumps 14-feet below the surface of Lake Havasu.
            Robbins, who is assisted by S & R vice president Clyde Kite, said that although the barge is of radical new design, little difficulty had been experienced following its shakedown cruise.  He said each tree takes approximately 10 minutes to cut.  The trees are then towed into shore to be cut up into smaller lengths.       

             The contract calls for completion of the project within 75 days, although Larry King, chief of the Needles division of the bureau, was told by the contractor that the job would be finished in 40-45 days.
             Completion of the  contract will clear Thompson Bay, site of the $27,500 Lake Havasu city world Championship Outboard Races each November, all the way to Parker, King said.
  “The remaining few will be marked with buoys as an aid to small boaters,” he said. 
            Stoll & Robbins Inc., who pride themselves on the unusual aspect of the projects the company undertakes, received a contract last year from American Electric Co. to build 200,000 crates to house 750-lb. napalm bombs.  Robbins also designed a “Litter Gitter” to remove debris from California highways.  “It was merely a jeep with an over-sized vacuum cleaner on it,” he said.  “Actually, it resembled an elephant but it did the job.  We found we could clean both sides of 20 miles of freeway or highway in a six-hour period.  Eventually, we’d like to get the “litter Gitter” back into production”.
  In addition, the firm has also manufactured a portable washing and painting rig for cleaning guardrails on freeways and roads.  Locomotion is by jeep.