DSC Dredge engineers were busy in Ikorodu, Lagos, Nigeria, in August, starting up the country’s largest dredge to date.
The 24-inch (600 mm) Marlin Class dredge from DSC features two dredge pumps – a 24-inch pump located on the ladder and another 24-inch pump located on the dredge’s stern. The dredge has a 23-meter (76-foot) digging depth capability, and is outfitted with spuds for use in waters with a strong current.
In addition to the 24-inch Marlin, a new 18-inch Marlin Class dredge also was commissioned at the same time in Nigeria. This dredge is outfitted with a submersible 18-inch (450 mm) dredge pump, and also features 23-meter digging depth capability.
The dredges are currently being used for sharp sand mining, and are able to dig in areas that other dredges cannot reach due to their extended dredging depth configurations. The demand for sharp sand to use in building roads, making concrete, and land development continues to increase in Nigeria, even with the economic challenges currently faced by the country.
The Lagos area had previously been mined with dredges that could only dredge down to 12 or 14 meters (40 to 46 feet) in depth; once those dredges reached their capacity, they could no longer dredge an area.
In fact, the vast majority of dredges in Nigeria can only dig to a maximum depth of 14 meters. The DSC Marlin dredges can dig deeper and pump farther than other dredges, providing their owners with a huge advantage in mining greater quantities of sand to meet demand, said DSC.
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