“The most cost-effective piece of equipment ever brought onto this property.” – Mark Shea, Assistant Supervisor of Waste Treatment In an unusual feat for a hydraulic dredge, an Ellicott Brand Series 370 Dragon”DRAGON®” cutterhead dredge excavated four different materials from two power plant settling ponds: fly ash, bottom ash, lime, and lime mixed with fly ash. The dredge moved over 100,000 cubic yards in just three months. The City of Springfield, Illinois owns and operates the City Water Light & Power (CWLP) Dahlmann Generating Station. Burning coal generates three waste products: fly ash, bottom ash, and lime from the water...Continue Reading

Source: Engineering New Record (ENR) A recent fact-filled article published in the December issue of Engineering New Record (ENR) highlights the challenges the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is facing at its Kingston Power Plant near the Emory River, Tennessee, USA. TVA is now one year into the projected four year $1 billion dollar project to clean up after an ash spill in December 2008. Sevenson Environmental of Niagara Falls, New York, is using a fleet of Ellicott® Brand cutter suction dredges and booster pumps to perform its work.  The dredges are working 24 hours per day, 6 days a week....Continue Reading

Source: International Dredging Review Moderately-priced, leased GPS-based positioning systems are now available for small dredging projects. A typical system includes a standard PC compatible computer, with Trimble 4000 series differential GPS and Windows-driven software such as HYPACK. A properly-qualified technician can install a basic system on a small to medium-sized dredge in one or two days. Once the system is set up, a person with basic knowledge of electronic navigation equipment (such as Loran) can be trained to operate the system in less than two days. As with all electronic equipment, GPS systems are not without a few problems, but...Continue Reading

1996 Source: VIRGINIA POWER CO. – Chesterfield Station Virginia Southwind Construction Company (SWC) was contracted to perform dredging for Virginia Power Company at three (3) separate locations with total ash removal ranging from 400,000 cubic yards to one million cubic yards at their Chesterfield Station. A 14-inch Ellicott® Brand B-890 “Wheel-Dragon”™ dredge was used to efficiently (and cost-effectively) remove the ash from one basin and transport the material via poly-pipeline to a storage basin. Silt curtains were utilized to control suspended solids and minimize turbidity at the discharge point into the James River. Additionally, levee conditions at the storage basin deteriorated due...Continue Reading