Joint venture dredger
The first vessel to be constructed under a joint venture between Dredge Works and Neptune Shipyard in Holland has hit the water. The EuroDredger450, a cutter suction dredger with a discharge pipe diameter of 450mm is now available for delivery.
The two companies joined forces to enable the building of this multi-purpose dredger which is suitable for dredging soft and medium compacted sand and other sediments up to a dredging depth of 10 metres on inland waters, rivers and lakes.
Its hull consists of 3 dismountable pontoons linked by a rigid coupling system inside the pontoons. It is designed to be disassembled easily with the components transportable by road. The high performance dredge pump which was developed and manufactured by Dredge Yard and is mounted directly onto the gearbox to save space and reduce the weight and is driven by a 634 kW diesel engine. A hydraulic power pack of 232 kW is fitted on the main pontoon to supply hydraulic power to the cutter head, winches and spud hoist cylinders.
The hydraulically driven cutter head which was also developed by Dredge Yard, has exchangeable cutter teeth that come in three types, pick points, narrow and wide chisels. The blades of the cutter head are double curved to allow for a smooth mixture flow through the cutter and into the suction mouth.
The Euro Dredger 450 is the latest addition to the product range of this joint venture and the companies are already planning the development of their next multi-purpose Euro Dredger.
By Dag Pike.
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