"Mud Cat™" Series 370 "DRAGONS™" Clear Sediment Trap in Colombian River
Himat (Instituto Colombian de Hidrologica, Metereologica y Ade Tierras) builds a new water intake and sediment trap for the existing Saldana Irrigation System in Colombia, South America. The project used two Ellicott Series 370 "DRAGON™" cutterhead dredges from Mud Cat™ to keep the water flowing.
Water from the Saldana River is distributed through an extensive system of open canals for the irrigation of a vast sector of the province of Tolima in the upper Magdalena River Valley. However due to deforestation of the mountains, the sediment in the river increased causing excessive costs in the maintenance of the canals.
Himat designed the sediment trap to solve this problem. The two Ellicott Series 370 "DRAGON™" dredges maintain the trap and irrigation system. The sediments dredged in the trap are dredged and pumped back to the river, downstream from the new water intake.
The dredges have proven themselves very productive pieces of equipment and at the same time incredibly adaptable to the tough logistical conditions encountered in Columbia. The 370’s were transported over the Andes on primitive mountain roads, unloaded and launched without cranes, using only wood and their own winches. Each dredge fits completely on one truck. The entire unloading, assembly and set-up was accomplished in less than two days.
The World Bank financed the entire project. Industrias Ivor of Colombia installed and initially operated the dredges. Ivor trained personnel from the local farmers’ association during this initial period so that eventually they could operate the dredges and run the project directly.
Ellicott sold another Series 370 in Latin America which was used in Mexico. Komasur SA de CV purchased the Series 370 which was used to excavate sand from rivers to provide material for new roadways. Additional projects included canal cleaning and marina maintenance in Veracruz and Tabasco states.
Mud Cat™ also delivered the same year a Series 370 dredge to Arenas Del Sur SA of Almeria, Spain. Arenas used the dredge initially for marina maintenance near Cadiz. With this delivery to Europe, Mud Cat™ now has Series 370 cutterhead dredgers operating on all the world’s continents, not only in marina and irrigation applications, but also in mining, sand and gravel, navigation, pollution control and other specialty dredging projects.
The series 370 "DRAGON™" dredge has a 12 x 10" Ellicott dredge pump and is powered by a single Caterpillar 3406 diesel engine rated at 309 bhp at a continuous 1800 rpm. The one-piece hull has a total weight of 52,000 lbs., and can excavate to a maximum depth of 20 ft below the water surface. The Series 370 produces up to 240 m3 per hour.
Reprinted from Dredging & Port Construction
