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Mare Island Dry Dock
Hydraulic Barge Offloading With a Cable-Deployed EDDY
Submersible Dredge Pump
When new disposal-site permits required hydraulic offloading, Mare Island Dry Dock rented a cable-deployed EDDY submersible dredge pump with a water jetting ring and moved roughly 100,000 cubic yards of flat-bottom-barge material with a single, low-maintenance pump.
CASE STUDY
A rented EDDY pump handled a permit-driven switch to hydraulic barge offloading — and became a low-maintenance, two-year solution.
The Mare Island Dry Dock in Vallejo, California, services cruise ships, coastal tankers and barges, ferries, the Military Sealift Command (MSC), the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, NOAA, and commercial freighters and bulk carriers, and provides vessel berthing for repair and retrofit. For two years, it has used an EDDY pump to hydraulically offload flat-bottom barges — moving roughly 100,000 cubic yards of material with a single pump.
CUBIC YARDS OFFLOADED WITH A SINGLE PUMP
HYDRAULIC DISCHARGE TO THE DISPOSAL POND (10" HDPE)
IN SERVICE — BEGAN AS A RENTAL TRIAL
The Challenge: A Permit-Driven Switch to Hydraulic Offloading
Mare Island’s barge-offload requirements changed. The disposal site would no longer accept a mechanical offload, a clamshell bucket lifted over the levee, and now required the material to be offloaded hydraulically into the disposal site.
“We contacted EDDY Pump and found out that they would be willing to rent us a unit so that we could try the system,” said Environmental Coordinator Marcus Zuidema. “Since our offload is only a few weeks during the dredge cycle, and we had not done this before, this was a good trial solution for us.”
The site also runs a much smaller water-pump setup than most dredge operations: a Godwin HL150 supplies the jet-ring water, and the crew can throttle that water down to raise the production rate when the next barge is waiting. The pump discharges 650 feet into a disposal pond through a 10-inch HDPE line.
The Solution: A Rented Cable-Deployed EDDY Pump with Water Jetting Ring
- Rented trial unit — a low-risk way to adopt hydraulic offloading, since the offload window is only a few weeks per dredge cycle
- Cable-deployed submersible EDDY Pump with a water-jetting-ring agitator
- Godwin HL150 supplies jet-ring water; the crew can cut water to push production when the next barge is waiting
- Jetting ring re-tuned with EDDY Pump to maximize pressure at the nozzle while limiting flow — “the best balance”
- Discharges roughly 650 ft into the disposal pond through 10-inch HDPE
- Low-maintenance operation — in the operator’s words, it “just runs and pumps the mud”
“We spend time keeping fluids filled on all the other equipment, but the EDDY Pump just runs and pumps the mud. It is very easy to operate.”
MARCUS ZUIDEMA · ENVIRONMENTAL COORDINATOR, MARE ISLAND DRY DOCK
The Power Of EDDY Pump Technology
The Cable-Deployed EDDY Pump with Water Jetting Agitator is barge- or excavator-mountable — a submersible, electric- or hydraulic-driven dredge pump, and a market leader in high-solids pumping. It can be suspended by cable from a crane, an excavator, or a floating barge with an A-frame.
Unlike other dredge pumps, it has no impeller. Instead, a heavy-duty, geometrically designed rotor creates a synchronized eddy current, like a tornado. The high-chrome build resists wear, so it won’t clog like conventional pumps or lose time to maintaining critical tolerances.
The setup accepts 4-inch through 12-inch pumps, moving 100–450 cubic yards per hour at distances over 2,000 feet, with a jetting ring that can be configured to break up the most consolidated material while feeding the pump.
The Results: ~100,000 Cubic Yards Offloaded, Two Years in Service
- ~100,000 cubic yards offloaded with a single pump over roughly two years
- Met the permit-driven switch from mechanical to hydraulic offload into the disposal pond
- Operators work end-to-end down the flat-bottom barge and use a fire monitor to push mud toward the raked side — creating a slope and volume that keep the pump primed
- Prime is only lost once the mud runs low (roughly the last 6–12 inches in the barge) and is quickly restored by cycling water through the line
- Frees crew time — the EDDY pump needs little attention while other equipment requires constant tending
About Mare Island Dry Dock, LLC
Mare Island Dry Dock, LLC operates on an 18-plus-acre site on Mare Island — home to Dry Dock #2 and Dry Dock #3, both active concrete graving docks, the largest 700 feet long and able to accommodate ships under fully-loaded conditions. The site offers secure berthing of up to 1,300 linear feet and serves cruise ships, coastal tankers and barges, ferries, the MSC, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, NOAA, and commercial freighters and bulk carriers. On September 16, 1854, Mare Island became the first permanent U.S. naval installation on the West Coast.
About Eddy Pump Corporation
Founded in 1984, EDDY Pump Corporation delivers breakthrough technology and service to industries including the U.S. Navy, oil & gas, mining, wastewater, paper/pulp, dredging, fracking, and chemical. At its core is the patented EDDY Pump — not a centrifugal, vortex, or positive-displacement pump, but a geometrically designed spinning rotor that harnesses the power of a tornado into fluid dynamics, handling material once deemed impossible or cost-prohibitive.