Oliver Evans (13 September 1755 – 15 April 1819) was an American inventor. Evans was born in Newport, Delaware to a family of Welsh settlers.
The Oruktor Amphibolos
The device for which Oliver Evans is best-known today is his Oruktor Amphibolos, or "Amphibious Digger", built on commission from the Philadelphia Board of Health. The Board was concerned with the problem of dredging and cleaning the city's dockyards, and in 1805 Evans convinced them to contract with him for a steam-powered dredge.
The Oruktor Amphibolos, as illustrated in "The Boston mechanic and journal of the useful arts and sciences" (July, 1834)
No technical drawings of the device survive, and the only evidence for its design come from Oliver Evans' own descriptions, which are contradictory, and most likely exaggerated. He describes the vehicle as a 30-foot (9.1 m) long 15 ton scow, powered by a 5 horse-power steam engine. Evans mounted the hull on 4 wheels and may have connected the engine to them, to drive it.Evans claimed that his dredge was the first self-powered amphibious vehicle, as well as the first self-powered land vehicle in the United States. The Oruktor Amphibolos was never a success as a dredge, and after a few years of sitting at the dock was sold for parts.
