A HUGE DREDGER.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13645, 13 July 1908, Page 3

A HUGE DREDGER.

Says the "Melbourne Index" As the Government is considering the advisability of making the straight cut from Port Melbourne for—tire accommodation • of the largest ocean-goiiig steamers the , following description .of an : improved dredging ' ;machin© beling " builtr- for operation, in Liverpool' Harbour -will be read with interest-. It will be the largest aild most powerful ever built. The. contract provides for a vessel which can lift 10,000 tons of «and;in fifty'.minutes, arid attain a speed if necessary, of 10 knots. The dimensions -of the dredger will ; be as follows :—Length, 478 ft. over - ! all, 69ft. . beam, and 30ft, 7in. in -moulded depth. The dredger is now nearing completion, ' and when finished will' have a hopper capacity of 180,000 cubic feet, which is to. be .filled from a maximum, depth of . 70ft. within fifty i minutes, and as the total I ■ _.

load displacement will be about 18,000 toil!-, exceptional strength avill be a piominent feature of the hull and jointing of the dredger, and the shell plates will be • three-guarters of an inch thick, 28ft long, -each "weighing 2| tons, a-nd the butts will be quadruple riveted.: The dredger will have four centrifugal pumps, -each of which will be driven by an independent engine, 7 and when driven they will together lift the, great quantity of sand mentioned. The propelling machinery will be of 3,500 indicated horse-power and will consist of two sets of inverted vertical direct-acting triple-expansion exgines, with cyclinders 22i, 37, and 61, and a stroke* of 45in. There will be twenty-oiie water-tight ~* compartments, so that ample provision will ba made for the safety of the vessel in case of' an accident. . -