Finland-based Aquamec has launched a new amphibious multipurpose Watermaster dredger which has 50% more suction dredging capacity than its previous model.
The Watermaster Classic V reaches 900m3 per hour pumping output due to its bigger Watermaster Cutter Pump and more powerful engine.
It can do all the work that conventionally would require separate machines, including dredging, excavating, raking, piling and hammering.
“It would be easy to increase dredging capacity by growing the size and weight of the dredger, but at the same time you would lose the excellent mobility, which is a key feature of an amphibious dredger,” said Lauri Kalliola, managing director of Aquamec.
He added: “The challenge has been to increase dredging capacity while keeping the dredger compact, mobile and robust at the same time. Watermaster is a unique combination of these features.”
The new model has gone through an extensive test programme over the last two years with several units being operated in various environments for thousands of hours.
Watermaster Classic V also includes a new patented Cutting Knife System for debris which enables the product to pump soils containing a significant amount of plastics and dredge in areas where only excavation work was previously possible.
The size of the Watermaster has stayed at 20 tonnes since its first-generation model, but the capacity has nearly tripled since.
Mr Kalliola concluded: “Watermaster Classic V is truly amphibious, not just in theory. It can work and move where other cannot, in the whole shallow water area from dry ground to six meters depth.”
By Alice Mason
