Tiankun, the first heavy cutter-section dredger built by China, makes its debut on Nov 3, 2017. [Photo/VCG] 

After three months of dredging tests, the return of Tiankun, Asia's largest cutter-section dredger invested by CCCC Tianjin Dredging Co., Ltd. (TDC), marked that it is ready for operation.

The heavy duty revamping was invested by TDC, as it returned to Qidong shipyard in East China's Jiangsu province on Wednesday and is set to be put into operation soon.

The dredger is 140 m long, 27.8 m wide with a total installed power of 25843 kW, designed dredging capacity of 6000 m³ per hour, and a cutter power of 6600 kW. Surpassing Tianjin, also built by TDC, is currently the largest and most advanced cutter suction dredger in Asia.

Tiankun has successfully passed two tests. On Oct 2, 2018, Tiankun was sent to Qidong, Jiangsu province, for a dredging test. After nearly one month of commissioning, the maximum dredging productivity reached 7,501 cubic meters per hour, far exceeding the design standard of 6,000 cubic meters per hour.

Tiankun was also sent to Dalian for the rock excavation test on Nov 23, 2018, and it successfully completed the test of 60 mpa rock hardness, exceeding the pre-set standard of 50 mpa.

 By equipping it with four different types of cutters and depending on the geological condition, the dredger is capable of dredging rocks with a side compressive strength of up to 50mPa.