American contractor Cashman Dredging & Marine Contracting in September 2014 took delivery of the Damen DOP submersible dredge pump.
Since then, the DOP450L high efficiency pump has completed many jobs throughout the USA, recently completing one in Puerto Rico.
On its current job in Tampa, Florida, the DOP450L was integrated in a recently built hydraulic unloader, called “Kraken”.
Here, the submersed dredge pump is attached to a Komatsu hydraulic excavator, type PC1250, which has been customized specifically for the pumping operation.
The DOP pump has been fitted out with a reinforced casing and heavy duty suction head making it the perfect tool for unloading barges, or hopper scows as they are also called.
The hopper scows are 5.000 CY (being some 3.800m³). They are pushed alongside the hydraulic offloader pontoon, where plenty of transport water is added to the cargo. Generally, the material to be pumped is mud and clay from a maintenance dredging project. Some 4.000m³/h of mixture is pumped 1.100m to a disposal area using a booster pump and sinker pipe line.
Once this job is completed, the DOP barge unloader “Kraken” has plenty of new jobs lined up throughout the winter ‘17/’18.