Remember when we had to guess the silt density on the Columbia River?

I was on the 'River Queen' near Astoria in 2012 when a new sensor gave us a real-time readout, and we cut our pump time by almost an hour. Anyone still working a dredge that doesn't have that kind of gear?

4 comments

4 Comments

finleyl392mo ago

We were running blind on the Willamette until the boss finally sprung for a density meter. The guesswork was killing our schedule. Having that number right in front of you changes everything, you just set the pump and forget it. It paid for itself in fuel savings alone within a few months. I can't imagine going back to the old way now.

the_christopher6d ago

Pull that density meter out and check the calibration at least once a month. I learned that one the hard way after a shift of pumping thin slurry because we trusted a reading that was drifting off. Running on the Willamette is no joke with all that variable silt load coming down from the tributaries. The key is to watch the trend more than the exact number just set a max threshold and let the pump ride it. Once you got that locked in, the fuel savings really start adding up and your schedule is finally your own.

king.val2mo ago

That 2015 upgrade @sean854 mentioned is about right for a lot of smaller outfits. But the real-time gear was on big commercial dredges way earlier, like the "Pacific Titan" had it by 2004. The tech trickled down slowly, so a lot of crews were still guessing silt density long after it was solved.

sean8542mo ago

We ran the old way until 2015 and man, that upgrade was a total game-changer for us too.