On 5 December departed from the shipyard of Smulders at Slikkerveer towards Montevideo the bucket dredger Uruguay I.(1) She was build on French behalf to complete the harbour works at Montevideo and to be afterwards transferred to the Uruguayan government. She was the largest dredger at that moment build in the Netherlands with as main dimensions 241’ x 41’x 17’3” (hold). Her hopper capacity was 800M3 or 1,280 tons The two vertical compound steam engines supplied 800 ihp. The total heating surface of the two boilers was 320M2 working with a pressure of 8 atmosphere. Boilers and engines were build in the factories of Smulders at Utrecht and Luik (Belgium). The 32 buckets had each a capacity of 800 litres. According to the signed contract her working capacity had to be 500M3 each hour while she could worked to a maximum depth of 13 metres. She was able through a sucking device to fill the hopper in 40 minutes while afterwards the mud was dumped in open sea. The sucking depth was 4-10 metres. According to her contract was her speed to be at least 7 knots and a coal consumption of maximum 1 kilo each hour. In the presence of the commission responsible for her approval were during 8 days trials in which she served as an ordinary dredger working with a bucket chain and filling with a sucking device the cargo hold. The results were 650M3 dredged in an hour, 1,800M3 sucked in an hour, speed 8 knots, coal consumption 0,95 kilo in an hour and 885 ihp. The vessel had electric lightning and described as a first class tool due the equipment and build according to the highest class of Veritas. Her sister ship Uruguay II was nearly completed.
Note
1. The firm A.F. Smulders at Slikkerveer (later Gusto at Schiedam) was specialized in dredgers but built for instance in 1905-1906 also a floating dock for Argentina.
Added on 9 September 2013 at 20:06 o'clock.
De Dutch magazine
De Ingenieur dated 27 June 1902 reported the launching on 3 June of the hopper bucket dredger Uruguay I with as main dimensions 70,00 (waterline)-73,45 (over all) x 12,50 x 5,25 (hold) metres. Two compound steam engine with surface condensing of each 500 ihp and 2 boilers with each a heating surface of 160 square metre.
