South Dakota News

Photo courtesy JW Fishers

Submerged Pick-Up Truck Located Using Underwater Sonar

The James River is a tributary of the Missouri River. It is roughly 710 miles long and spans over 20,000 square miles of North and South Dakota with more than 70% of the river’s drainage occurring in South Dakota. River conditions during normal years include both still-water and flooding on both the James River and its tributaries. Water easily breaches the low banks, and these floods tend to cover a significant portion of the floodplain. When the river is still, water quality drops and it becomes quite difficult to see more than a few feet underwater.The Beadle County Office of Emergency

Official U.S. Navy file photo.

Future USS South Dakota Delivered to US Navy

The U.S. Navy accepted delivery of the 17th submarine of the Virginia class, the future USS South Dakota (SSN 790), on September 24.The next-generation attack submarine began construction in 2013 and is scheduled to be commissioned in early 2019.South Dakota is the seventh Virginia-class Block III submarine. Block III submarines feature a redesigned bow with enhanced payload capabilities, replacing 12 individual vertical launch tubes with two large-diameter Virginia Payload Tubes, each capable of launching six Tomahawk cruise missiles. This, among other design changes, reduced the submarines'

(Image: Project Trumpmore)

Finns Want to Carve Trump’s Face on a Glacier

President Donald Trump reportedly told South Dakota Representative Kristi Noem it is his dream to be added to Mount Rushmore.There might not be space for the 45th American president’s likeness alongside some of his most immortal predecessors on Mount Rushmore, but a group of Finnish environmentalists say they want to fulfill Trump’s dream in a different way.Members of a Finnish NGO say they want to commission Project Trumpmore, a 115-foot-tall ice sculpture of Donald Trump’s face onto an arctic glacier inspired by the iconic South Dakota monument and Trump’s rejection of

Ship's Sponsor Diane Donald christens the Virginia-class submarine Indiana (SSN 789), witnessed by (from left) Vice President Mike Pence, Indiana's  Commanding Officer, Cdr. Jesse Zimbauer and Newport News Shipbuilding President Matt Mulherin. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy Huntington Ingalls Industries by Ashley Major)

US Navy Christens Submarine Indiana

submarine is the third U.S. Navy ship to be christened with the name Indiana. The first Indiana (BB-1), the lead ship of her class of battleship, served in the North Atlantic and later participated in the blockade of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish-American War. The second Indiana (BB-58) was a South Dakota-class battleship that earned nine battle stars for her service in the Pacific Theater in World War II. BB-58 fought in the Battle of the Philippine Sea and participated in the invasions of Tarawa, Kwajalein and Okinawa, and bombarded Saipan, the Palau Islands, the Philippines and Iwo Jima.  

US Navy to Christen Submarine Indiana

the third U.S. Navy ship to be christened with the name Indiana. The first Indiana (BB-1), the lead ship of her class of battleship, served in the North Atlantic and later participated in the blockade of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish-American War.    The second Indiana (BB-58) was a South Dakota-class battleship that earned nine battle stars for her service in the Pacific Theater in World War II. BB-58 fought in the Battle of the Philippine Sea and participated in the invasions of Tarawa, Kwajalein and Okinawa, and bombarded Saipan, the Palau Islands, the Philippines and Iwo Jima.  

NOAA scientist recovers Fishers TOV towed video system after completing survey, Inset: Sterling Fire Department diver exits reservoir with their Fisher DV-1 drop video. (Photo: JW Fishers)

Underwater Video Aids Scientists and Search Teams

for a number of years and Captain Dale Appel reports, “the TOV has helped us recover many drowning victims, locate evidence, find submerged vehicles, sunken vessels and many other things.”   Sterling Fire Department in Massachusetts and Morton County Sheriff’s Department in South Dakota are also using the video system to assist in their underwater operations. Both departments have JW Fishers DV-1 drop video which is lowered from the boat on a Kevlar reinforced cable to within a few feet of the bottom. The underwater housing is equipped with two powerful 1,500 lumen LED lights

Side scan image of concrete encased pipeline, Inset – Hydromax team with their JW Fishers side scan. (Photo: JW Fishers)

Police, Dive Companies Find Many Uses for Side Scan Sonars

Odion says he’s very happy with the new sonar and that it will be instrumental for pipeline surveys and salvage projects.    A few of the many other search teams using Fishers side scans are South Survey and Mapping Co. in China, Beadle County Office of Emergency Management in South Dakota, commercial diving company Alldive in Malta, Fall River Police in Massachusetts, Suffolk County Sheriffs Marine Unit in New York, Union Fire Company in Pennsylvania, North Carolina Dept. of Transportation, Cape May Township Fire District 2 and Phoenix Marine in New Jersey, US Navy’s EOD

Okeanos Explorer (Photo: NOAA)

Exploring Protected Areas and Shipwrecks in the Pacific

poorly known areas in and around Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. The Monument is one of the largest fully protected conservation areas in the United States, encompassing 139,797 square miles. If placed over the U.S. mainland, it would span the distance from Washington, D.C. to Sioux Falls, South Dakota.   "Although the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument was established nearly 10 years ago, there is still much to be learned about the more than 7,000 species and geological features in this area," said Athline Clark, PMNM superintendent for NOAA's Office of National Marine

Professor Wins $200,000 Offshore Suction Pile Contract

South Dakota School of Mines & Technology apprises that  professor Sangchul Bang is making history by designing suction pile foundations for what will be the world's largest windmill on a 2,500-megawatt (MW) wind farm in the Yellow Sea off the shores of South Korea. His nearly $200,000 contract with Korea Electric Power Corporation Research Institute (KEPRI)  will result in foundations for 500 windmills ranging from 3 MW to 7 MW each – the largest ever constructed. Until 2001, Bang, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, consulted for the

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