It was exhibited at the Exposition Universelle in 1900 whilst in the collection of Dr. Georges Viau, a Paris dentist and art collector.

This contrasts with most of the rest of his work which - like the other Impressionists - showed the Seine as a place of leisure.

[4][5] At the centre of the painting two men on a flat-bottomed barge dredging the Seine to create a navigable channel for péniches travelling between Le Havre and Paris, the main means of transporting goods in that era.

The ochre colours of the sand contrast with the turquoise blue of the water.

He was interested in the sand-extraction industry and painted this and several other works on the quayside at Port-Marly itself.