2023-10-17
A cutter suction dredger consists primarily of a cutter, a mud pump, and a mud discharge pipe. It was first used in the United Kingdom in 1880 and has a 100-year history.
This type of dredger can dredge continuously, has high work efficiency, and is widely used in other countries. Cutter suction dredgers have advanced rapidly over the last two decades. Previously, this type of ship could only be used to dredge silt, sand, and clay from inland rivers. The structure is strengthened as the horsepower increases, as is the reamer's excavation capacity, and it has been able to adapt to quite hard soil, including coral, rock, and so on. Some countries are currently producing small and medium-sized cutter suction ships in standardized series. Small hulls, high energy, and simple structures characterize these ship types. They are the primary dredging tools for improving inland waterways, conserving farmland water, and reclaiming land. Large cutter suction dredgers have a dredging depth of more than 25 meters. The mud pump has a power range of 6000-10000 horsepower, with a maximum of 17000 horsepower. The reamer's power is typically 1/3 to 1/5 that of the mud pump. The knife has a power of 6000 horsepower. A cutter suction dredger with a horsepower range of 3000-4000 was able to dig hard soil at a pressure of 5.104 tons per square meter.
Although modern cutter suction dredgers have made significant advances, due to the impact of wind and waves on the winch and positioning piles when digging hard soil, even large cutter suction dredgers can only adapt to the construction of periodic waves at 4 seconds, a range of wave height of 1 meter, or a range of periodic surge greater than 7 seconds and an effective surge height of 0.3 meters. The operating effect of the cutter suction dredger is even worse when construction is encountered in cross waves. A platform-type and semi-submersible cutter-suction dredger has been built in recent years, breaking the tradition that cutter-suction dredgers are only suitable for construction in low wind and waves.