NEW APPROACH TO MAINTENANCE DREDGING.

The present market for maintenance dredging requires a new approach. In the current situation, two issues are of particular importance: a small initial investment and low operating costs. The importance of a small initial investment is greatest where the funds available for purchasing a dredging plant are limited. As maintenance and deepening operations are in many cases of a simple nature, there is no necessity to buy costly equipment, especially when trailing dredgers of simpler design and with a smaller hopper capacity provide an ideal solution. The level of operating costs is mainly determined by depreciation, energy consumption, maintenance, crew costs, production and rate of utilization. High production must not lead to a low utilization rate. To obtain a trailing dredger with a low initial cost and low operating costs, the design must not be multi-functional; moreover, neither the hopper capacity nor the output must be greater than is necessary for the anticipated, normal volume of; work. The new approach, therefore, is not primarily technical, but economic and is presented in the article. Principal particulars of IHC Startrail are given.