Description
A large suction cutter dredge was used for mineral sands mining at Cooljarloo, Western Australia. The new dredge had been commissioned for just over a year when the hull of the dredge suddenly buckled during mining operations. This structural failure propagated the full width of the hull.
CGR was commisssioned to determine the cause of the structural failure. This involved site inspections, interviewing mine personnel, examining design calculations and documentation of the dredge, structural analysis of the dredge and its winch mechanism, co-ordinating the collection of metallurgical samples and the subsequent metallurgical testing of structural components of the damaged hull. A detailed engineering report was provided.