Dredger rides the rails to Kazahkstan
Damen Dredging Equipment has delivered from stock a CSD500 model cutter suction dredger to Kazakhstan.
The standard dredger was fitted out with several options before leaving the Nijkerk yard in the Netherlands and has started on its first job, the creation of a new irrigation channel.
The CSD500 is a modularly built dredger consisting of a main pontoon which houses the diesel engine and the dredge pump plus side pontoons to both port and starboard and an ergonomically designed operating cabin. It also features two spud poles and the cutter ladder.
The pontoons are fitted out with a simple yet heavy duty coupling system which enables rapid and straightforward dismantling and reassembly on land and afloat. All elements have been designed for road, sea and rail transport. This particular dredger was delivered by rail from the Netherlands to its current remote site.
The CSD500 is currently working on a 14 km long irrigation channel which links an artificial lake to the surrounding farmland. The channel is being created from scratch. The total job will comprise dredging some 2m cu/m of soil, with the CSD500 working at its maximum dredging depth of -14m.
Before leaving the yard, various options were added to the standard dredger, including a jib crane for safe handling of the dredge pump and engine room parts, a swivel hose which simplified the dredger’s swing movement versus its rigid discharge piping, and a rubber ring gate valve in its discharge pipe line.
Once the dredger arrived at is remote job site, Damen service engineers flew in to assist the crew in the assembly of the dredger on land. Once afloat, the crew was trained in the efficient use of the dredger but it started work on its lengthy first job.
