Diving bell boat: Walking down to the Rhine's riverbed

The diving bell boat "Carl Straat" patrols the stretch between Alsace and the Netherlands. Captain Thomas Bach keeps the riverbed clean. His ship features a steel diving bell that can be lowered, using overpressure to displace the water at the bottom of the Rhine. He can then stay dry while working below the water; retrieving lost anchors, for example.

For the crew, it is a seven-meter descent via the shaft pipe to the bottom of the Rhine. There they have to work in very harsh conditions, from compressed air to extreme heat in summer and cold in winter.

© 2014, Licensed by vidicom

[resetpassword]

This thing is 50 years old and I had no idea of its existence. Incredible technology.

[verschepard]

The fact to put your feets on a piece of Earth where no one before was, must be amazing every time.

[ProToolsApproved]

This needs to be a tv show. This i'd watch

[johnwright]

If someone had told me that such a craft existed I wouldn't have believed it.

[oddities-whatnot]

Thats why we like to watch Youtube, for genuinely interesting videos such as this. Fascinating.

[adityawalimbe]

Am i the only one imagining how this would be if @tomscott did one of his legendary single take about things we might not have know.

[neilfoster]

What a brilliant concept. I would have never believed the river bed would be so dry for walking on.

[robinwells]

I can see how that job would never get old! Remarkable how the pressure changes cause fogs to suddenly develop. This could easily be a whole documentary following them for a year. ❤

[b]

As a archaeologists this is a dream. Dam you could fill a museum with that tec..
Roman helmets, mp38s, Iron age coins the list is endless..

[la.woman.]

Never seen anything like this. Amazing piece of machinery, genius engineering!

[__tasp__]

Lived on the Rhine as a kid and had no idea this existed, so cool. What an interesting job to have!

[MrButtonpresser]

Table and chairs, sandwiches and beer. A picnic on the bed of the Rhine! A tourism opportunity. 😊

[Ollie]

A mudlarkers dream job. The history you find while salvaging has to be one of a kind.

[ElementofKindness]

I never imagined that the diving bell would so effectively displace the water. I figured there would be at least knee high water to contend with.

[rjs]

That's crazy, i never considered it would be possible to use a driving bell in this way...genius!

[rander]

The Rhine has had humans crossing it for thousands of years so it would be fascinating to find ancient objects like swords and such. Incredible boat!

[craigsudman]

Wow I would have imagined the bottom to be mud. Great video thumbs up.

[briansmith]

That is so interesting. I could watch this type of programming all the time. No garbage reality stuff, just things that educate you.

[gremo]

Als direkter Rheinanwohner für mich ein absoluter Traumjob. Für andere vielleicht nicht nachvollziehbar aber immer wenn ich am Rhein bin frage ich mich was wohl gerade alles im Flussbett treibt. Selbst am Ufer finde ich immer wieder Dinge aus aller Welt. Faszinierend! Toller Beitrag Respekt an die SchiffsCrew❤

[dad_jokes_ever]

Wow ! What an amazing machine ... Its so cool that you can go and have a walk around on a river bed !