When the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad expanded the east berth at its Searsport facility it needed to dredge the berth to a depth of 32 feet. Dredging efforts revealed that beneath the mud on the bottom was a hard layer of clay called "hardpan" that the clamshell dredgers could not remove.

A special "backhoe" style dredger, the Charles A. Richardson, owned by the Perini Corporation was brought in to complete the work.

In eight days it removed nearly 14,000 cubic yards of material from the berthing area. Bangor and Aroostook Railroad's magazine, Maine Line, v. 14 #2, pp. 14-17.