Concerned that dredging’s conventional cutting systems are disturbing the environment, Dutch innovator Dredge Yard is launching a revolutionary, high-efficiency alternative. “It’s a complete solution to environmentally friendly cutting,” said CEO Basel Yousef. Colin Chinery reports.
r edging’s ecological good guy/bad guy image is set to change to environmental saviour as leading innovator Dredge Yard begins rolling out a breakthrough technology. The Rotterdam headquartered company designs, engineers, builds and supplies small to medium-sized dredgers and dredge components with the aim of improving the current dredging process and its environmental impact.
“Our vision is to continuously improve and adapt to new technologies and methodologies to create dredging equipment that’s not only cost-effective, but also environmentally friendly,” said CEO Basel Yousef.
Dredging’s benefits are well established – sediment and debris removal from rivers and harbours for example, and land reclamation and coastal protection. But dredging is also on the environmental hit list - pollution, contaminated soils, damaged fish spawning grounds and riverbank destabilisation.
In most dredging operations, spillage results in losing as much as 80% of cut material. But Dredge Yard’s latest innovation – the Cutting System - a unique and game-changing electric closed
Dblade cutter head – will reduce spillage and turbidity, while increasing dredger productivity. In short – a complete solution to high efficiency, environmentally friendly cutting.
Founding goals
Innovation, along with client focus, fast turn round and flexibility, were founding principles when Mr Yousef co-founded the company back in 2010. Working for another dredging supplier, he had seen a widespread lack of flexibility and client-orientation.
“And that’s extremely annoying since dredging needs customised operations, customised equipment,” he explained. “And to achieve that, clients need a flexible, rapid-response supplier.
“ We took off very quickly. Customers started coming to us asking for customised equipment, and a way of doing things that was different from what they had been getting from their established suppliers.
“Basically, we were following standard customer needs. We didn't have the arrogance to tell them, ‘this is the way you do it.’ So, we won more and more orders and we haven’t been still since. And with offices in the Netherlands and United
“We have a vision of a dredging industry, which offers a safe, healthy, accident-free workplace”
Arab Emirates, we are well-positioned to serve customers around the world.
“Our great team of engineers in Dubai and The Netherlands were part of Dredge Yard from the very beginning, and are available to work anywhere from the Middle East and Asia to Africa.”
End use applications range from canal sand channels, marinas, harbours, reservoirs and industrial settling ponds, to environmental and mine tailing remova l and dredging.
Among worldwide projects was the delivery of a customised Eco 200 electric cutter suction dredger for chloride brine mining in Canada and a multipurpose cutter suction dredger 400 for improving water quality in a water dam in Hungary. Dredge Yard is also currently building a cutter suction dredger 650 for central Asia and Cutter suction dredger 450 for Africa.
In-house powerhouse
A standard dredge line exists of a portfolio of six auger and cutter dredges that can operate at several different depths; each assembled and tested in-house at the Rotterdam facility or with on-location engineers. These are backed by strong technical client support, including maintenance and crew training. Beside those dredgers, customised dredgers are supplied in co-operation with different yards worldwide. For components, a wide range of products in standard type or customised are delivered, such as dredge pumps, ball joints, valves and cutters.
“We are committed to promoting safety, and we do our best to ensure safety for those who will be operating our dredgers,” Mr Yousef said. “Our engineers are involved in the entire tailor-made process; from the moment
a customer comes with a first inquiry right up to commissioning and production.”
If quality control is central to the Dredge Yard methodology, so too is competitive pricing, according to Mr Yousef: “We understand that cost is a major consideration when purchasing new equipment, and we strive to offer our customers the best possible value for their investment at the most competitive price possible.”
Electric close blade cutterhead
The new cutter emerged over years of intensive engineering, FEM and computer simulation. The full-scale model prototype was launched two years ago, followed by further on-going testing.
Dredge Yard’s CEO described the background: “Sometime after our formation,
we thought we should come up with something to improve dredging. We investigated the dredging market and noted that the conventional cutting systems were working inefficiently and disturbing the environment.
“One of the major issues is that they spill a lot of material, and so five years ago we began developing what is now the new, patented system: the electric closed blade.”
By combining the close blades with a hollow shaft and an electric ring motor, the result is a state-of-the-art cutter, offering, as Mr Yousef described:
