In the Panlong River, in the Chinese Yunnan Province, a concrete-face rock-fill dam has been constructed about a decade ago.
This dam, named the Malutang Dam, is used for hydroelectric power generation.
The reservoir created behind the 156m high dam has a volume of some 8,000,000 m3. As the Panlong river transports sediment into the reservoir, the site needs maintenance dredging.
A Damen DOP150 dredge pump did the job at the Malutang Damn in China. The DOP150, fitted out with its standard sand mining head, showed great performance during the dredging activities.
These activities included the removal of a 12m thick layer of sediment. The dredging job started at -35m, and was concluded at a dredging depth of -47m – freeing the water inlet gates.
During the works, the DOP150 continuously pumped some 600 m3/h of mixture, at a mixture concentration ranging from 20% to 35%.
The maintenance job was finished well on schedule, enabling the Malutang hydropower dam to maximise its output, being on the average 1,800 GWh per year. Moreover the safety ducts were fully operational again.