THE DREDGE CANTERBURY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXXIII, Issue 15922, 7 May 1912, Page 5

THE DREDGE CANTERBURY.

A SATISFACTORY TRIAL. SOME VERY QUICK WORK. After having undergone a few pre- \ liminar.y trials last week, the Lyttelton Harbour board's now Fvuhlmg suction dredge, built bv Messrs W. Simons and Co., of Renfrew, and designed under the direction of Mr Cyrus .J. Iv. Williams, engineer to the Board, was yesterday afternoon nut to n full test of her powers and the result was entirely satisfactory to all parties concerned. The trial was carried out under the (supervision of Mr Cyrus J. 11. Williams, while the navigation of the vessel was in the hands of Captain Smith, and. Mr A. Morris had charge of dredging operations. Mr J. w. Bruce, who acted as chief engineer on the vessel on her voyage out from Homo, watched operations on behalf of tho builders. Shortly- after 1 p.m. tho dredge teifc the skeleton wharf, and after clearing the moles her suction frame; attached to which is a massive scoop, 10ft wide, fitted with teeth, was lowered to the bottom of the channel, the depth ol which varied from thirty to forty iiv-t-. Shortly afterwards the engines were running at.full speed and tho scoop began to drag. By. tho aid of two powerful centrifugal pumps the mud was sucked up and delivered through two ICin suction pipes into the hoppers. Very little time was lost m loading. for after twenty-seven minutes' work the dredge had a full load of about 1250 tons and was leady to return to the skeleton wharf, v, ere her spoil was discharged through a shoe* into the reclamation area. Ihe two powerful pumps, wW*««JSf h ™ pumping of the material into the hopper, also lift the spoil, ana pass it through the discharge pipe. The operations, yesterday, were carried, out'with the utmost expedition, fo the whole of the spoil was discharged in nine minutes. In order to give-the vessel a thorough test, two more trips were made, and on the second attempt a full load was obtained in twenty minutes while the discharge occupied eleVen§minntes. Loading operations on the third run occupied sixteen minutes and the discharge twelve minutes. Samples of tho spoil obtained were examined and it was estimated that out of 1250 tons of spoil brought to the surface on each load from thirty to, fifty per cent was represented by solid mud. This is regarded as a very low estimate as a great deal of the spoil was lumpy and of a hard nature. On one occasion tho pumps brought up an old kerosene tin, and there was no scarcity of boulders or shells. Each trip occunied about an hour, and by working eight hours daily, it is likely that the dredge will be able to average six loads per day, equal to about 7500 tons of spoil. During the trial the whole of the machinery worked without a hitch and, taking into consideration the fact that the construction of the vessel and the machinery.was entirely new to a large number of the workmen, the trial was in every way satisfactory. In conversation with a reporter, Mr Cyrus Williams remarked that he was pleased with the result. The dredge had fully come up to expectations.