Challenge
Improve water quality of area wetland lakes that are crucial to the livelihood of the local fishing industry and wildlife.
Solution
Use DSC dredges to help maintain water passages, removing harmful elements and allowing more sea water to flow into different areas of the lakes.
The General Authority for Fish Resources Development (GAFRD) is responsible for Egypt’s fisheries management. Lakes Al Burullus, Al Manzalah and Al Edku are economically important to the country, supporting a large fishery and fish farming sector. Unfortunately, over the years, these lakes had become inundated with silt from construction runoff, and were deteriorated further due to lack of proper channel flow, natural vegetation decay and the effects of man-induced drainage. Additionally, the lakes were overrun with reed growth, which furthered choked the lakes’ ecological balance, essentially turning the lakes into bogs. The conditions rendered the lake system unsustainable for the fishing industry that depends so heavily on their bounty.
The Egyptian authority took delivery and received training in the operation of two 10-inch Wolverine Class Dredges, designed and manufactured by DSC Dredge at its Greenbush, Michigan, facility. The GAFRD uses the dredges to help maintain water passages and channels by removing silt, pollutants and sedimentation, allowing more sea water to flow into the different areas of the lakes, and improving water quality, as well as increasing nutrition. In addition to the two Wolverine dredges, the organization’s fleet also includes four cutter suction dredges manufactured in Europe and 36 amphibious excavators. The order from DSC marks the first time the GAFRD has partnered with a U.S. manufacturer.
In order to restore the water system’s natural habitat and reinvigorate a dwindling fishing industry, the GAFRD chose to purchase two of DSC’s 68-foot-long Wolverine Class cutter suction dredges. The Wolverine is powered by a 440-horsepower Caterpillar C13 ACERT diesel engine. The Wolverine Class 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 of 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 DSC dredge purchases were the direct result of a chance meeting in 2011 between DSC’s International Sales Director Charlie Sinunu and Abdelwahab Abdelkafy, chairman and CEO of the United Group for Engineering and Investment S.A.E. (UGEI), a consulting group with great experience in dredging. The dredges began their service for the GAFRD in Lakes Al Burullus (In Kafr ELSheikh) near Alexandria and Al Manzalah near Port Said. DSC Dredge is proud to play an important role in assisting the people of Egypt to better their environment and economy.
