Wolverine Dredge Built for Colombias Electric Utility CHEC

In early December DSC Dredge LLC welcomed two guests from Colombia–Nestor Fabio Osorio of Buceo Industrial y Dragados de Urabá S.A.S and Julian Lopez Palacio of CHEC. They visited the company to inspect CHEC’s newly-purchased 10-inch Wolverine class dredge which will be used to clear sedimentation from dams.

As a subsidiary of EPM a Colombian company that provides public services such as phone water and electricity CHEC focuses on providing electrical power to its customers.
Best known for its coffee Chinchiná is located in the Colombian state of Caldas. The area relies on power generated from two dams fed by mountain rivers which have silted up over time. In order to keep electrical services uninterrupted CHEC has decided to dredge the dams and rivers to remove sediment.

After realizing the need to purchase their own dredge CHEC performed a technical study of eight dredge manufacturers citing quality as their most important specification. Based on quality price and availability CHEC opted to purchase a Wolverine dredge from DSC.

The Wolverine class dredge is a cutter suction dredge 63 feet long with a 425 hp John Deere diesel engine. The dredge can dig up to 25 feet below the surface and allows for a maximum particle clearance of six inches. It is fully functional operated by one person.

“Dredging the dams will generate jobs for the community while improving the area’s landscape recreational fishing and most important the water’s quality” states Julian Lopez Palacio CHEC’s project manager of dredging operations.

CHEC has already hired a dredge operator and expects an additional nine direct jobs to be created as a result of the project.