Damen Commissions Cutter Suction Dredge in China
The Qing Jiang a Damen CSD500 cutter suction dredge was delivered to CCCC Tianjin Dredging late last year. The dredge started immediately a maintenance project in the Maowei Sea in southern China.
The CSD500 has a 500-mm (about 19.69 -inch) discharge pipe a 2.5-meter (about 8.2- foot) minimum dredging depth a 14-meter (about 46-foot) maximum depth a mixture capacity of 4000 cubic meters (about 5230 cubic yards) per hour and a maximum swing wide of 39.6 meters (about 130 feet). The total power of the caterpillar engines is 1.293 kW with 180 kW cutter power.
Seen here the main pontoon and spud carrier of the Damen CSD500 Qing Jiang delivered to CCC Tianjin Dredging late last year.
For a sea transport all the components were hoisted into the transport vessel at Rotterdam harbor and they were offloaded at Guangzhou Huangpu Old Port. From there trucks delivered the dredge parts to the quay at the Maowei Sea. The pontoons were assembled on land and the spuds ladder and control cabin were installed afloat.
A Damen field service engineer assisted the crew on-site with reassembly and stayed two weeks for additional crew training so the dredge could start work on the inland lake quickly.
The dismounted dredge components were loaded onto a large ocean transport vessel at Rotterdam harbor in the Netherlands on their way to Guangzhou Huangpu Old Port in China.
The Maowei Sea project is in the Guangzi Zhuang Autonomous Region near Qinzhou. It is a relatively small inland lake connected by an estuary to the South Chinese Sea where a unique habitat was formed in the limited tidal differences with its continuous change of saltwater and freshwater. The shallow draft of the CSD500 is vital to this dredging project. Local development from the past decade land reclamation work and an continued supply of silt from the rivers that flow into the sea have resulted in a decline in water quality and limited water depth. The three-phase dredging project should help facilitate local commerce and fishing.
Damen said the goal of the project is a water depth of at least one meter at low tide along the entire lake surface (66 square kilometers). The standard CSD500 which was available at a short lead-time has been customized with a wedge piece. The customization refines the cutting angle of the cutter unit to the required limited dredging depth. Also anchor booms and a spud carriage were installed which Damen said boosts the dredge’s efficiency. The Qing Jiang has also been fitted out with a BV coastal class approval.
