Watching a crew dredge the harbor in Savannah made me rethink my whole pump setup

They were using a much wider suction head than I ever have, and the material was moving way faster with less clogging. Has anyone else tried a wider intake on a standard cutterhead dredge?

4 comments

4 Comments

avery_shah1mo ago

Saw the same thing on a river job near Mobile... they swapped to a ten-inch suction and it was like night and day.

elliot_roberts1mo ago

Heard that's the only way to move real volume.

miller.thomas1mo ago

Yeah, because who needs a small hose when you can just suck up the whole river at once. Classic overkill fix.

the_mia10d ago

Nobody's talking about the suction velocity tradeoff. Wider head drops your vacuum pressure hard. But if you're running a big enough pump to compensate, the material stays suspended longer before hitting the impeller. Saw a guy in Charleston try it with a 12 inch head on a 8 inch line. Cut his cycle time by almost half on shell hash. The key is matching the pump's flow curve to the new diameter or you just get cavitation and wear.