The excavator, which weighs somewhere around 60,000 pounds, was attempting to perform routine dredging when it became entrapped in the muck. Part of the problem with removing the heavy piece of machinery is it is dead weight. A second roughly 30,000 pound excavator was used to try to remove the larger sunken one, but to no avail, the mayor said. World Truck Towing and Recovery was on scene as a diver prepared to enter Lake Erie to assist in the removal of the excavator. The plan was to use the smaller excavator to lift the sunken one as the tow truck pulls it out. “They had the experience and it really is an unfortunate situation,” he said.

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