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Port Otago’s three-legged backhoe dredge has had its rams resealed and rechromed and is expected to be back at work today.

The port’s marine and infrastructure general manager Sean Bolt said the seals needed replacing regularly because of the harsh conditions of always working in sea water.

" ... this thing lives in the seawater so the conditions are much more harsh than a normal digger is exposed to," Mr Bolt said.

Takutai dredge was bought in 2018 for $8million. It is 35m in length, weighs 730 tonnes and can dredge at a depth of 19.8m.

The dredge’s three legs allow it to "crab" walk along the sea floor.

It was previously known as Kostaldea (the Basque word for coastline) and had been used for a year on a project in France before being brought to Dunedin, where it was renamed Takutai (the Maori word for coastline).