An all-electric cutter suction dredging vessel – the largest of its kind in the world – began its pilot operation today, clearing silt and sediment at the Guanting Reservoir in Beijing, Xinhua said.
Named Junlan , the dredger boasts 600 kilowatts of driving power and has a maximum digging depth of 25 meters.
The vessel has been independently designed and developed by the Tianjin Dredging Co., Ltd. of China Communications Construction Co., Ltd.
Equipped with underwater pumping facilities, the dredger can transport sludge over a distance of more than five kilometers.
According to the dredging plan for the reservoir, 11.5 million cubic meters of sediment from the bottom are expected to be removed.
The officials said that this will help achieve Beijing’s goal of improving the water quality and functions of Guanting Reservoir, laying a solid foundation for restoring its strategic water source function by 2035.