A unique cofferdam used to excavate a historic shipwreck

La Belle is the oldest French shipwreck found in the Western Hemisphere. The wreck was discovered in 1995 in Matagorda Bay, with large sections of the wooden hull preserved by oxygen-free muddy sediments. To allow archaeologists to work in dry conditions as if on land, a cofferdam was built around the ship, constituting a first attempt of this nature in North America.