Challenge
Prevent devastating floods in areas that have previously experienced significant damage. Meet the construction requirements that were outlined in the city’s threefold flood prevention program.
Solution
A DSC Wolverine Class dredge is now improving river flow rates, with dredged sand and other materials being put to use as fill for low-lying areas and as needed for local building and highway construction.
In 2007, the city of Villahermosa in Tabasco, Mexico, experienced a devastating flood. Since then, the federal and state governments – with the assistance of private industry – have launched a program designed to help prevent future flooding in and around the city.
This flood prevention program addressed three main areas – the deepening and clearing of the five-plus rivers that converge near the city, regulations requiring that low-lying areas be filled in and that future building construction take place above the designated flood stage, and a highway construction program that improves transportation in and around the city. All three program areas required the use of hydraulic dredges. Dredging the rivers will increase their holding capacities and flow rates, while the sand and other materials removed from the rivers will be used as fill for low-lying areas and as needed for building and highway construction programs.
A new Wolverine dredge, owned by Gerardo and Fernando Turriza, was leased by Comercializadora y Agregadol la Ceiba S.A. de C.V and was placed in operation at Rio De La Sierra in March 2013. The 68-foot-long dredge is powered by a 440-horsepower Caterpillar C13 ACERT diesel engine. It can dredge up to 25 feet below the surface and offers a 10-inch discharge configuration, which allows particle clearance of up to 6 inches. The cutterhead, designed with six cast-steel smooth blades, is attached to a variable-speed, reversible, hydraulic cutter motor manufactured by Kawasaki. The dredge pump, a J30 Metso Minerals/Thomas Simplicity series, is rated for 200 feet total discharge head at 4,200 gallons per minute. Five hydraulic winches, rated with a 4,500-pound line pull capacity, are used to swing the dredge, lift the spuds and lift the ladder.
The new dredge has performed well alongside other DSC dredges working in and around Villahermosa. The rivers and lakes will provide millions of cubic yards of sand and fill for the numerous safety and building projects planned in the area. DSC Dredge also expects to play a major role in providing dredges for these projects in the future.
