Lake Dredging
Application
Civil / Municipal
Sector
Belt Press & Geobags
Prior Method
Alfa Laval Lynx 500, Lynx 65, Lynx 72
Deployed Equipment
For most dredging contractors, belt presses and geobags are the default. They’re familiar, they’re proven, and on the right job, they perform well. But a tight site with real production pressure behind it tests those defaults fast. When a constrained footprint and a schedule with no margin for slower throughput come together, the familiar choice can become the wrong one.
A Dallas lake dredging contract brought those conditions together. The site footprint was tight enough that a conventional setup would have competed directly with the active operation for space, and the production schedule had no room for delay.
The faster the dewatering moved, the more margin the prime kept. Belt presses and geobags, for all their utility on other jobs, weren’t built to deliver the continuous throughput a site like this required. That’s what pushed the conversation toward decanter centrifuges.
“Belt presses and geobags earn their place on plenty of jobs, and we’d be the first to say so. But when the footprint is tight and production can’t stop, those methods run out of road. On this site, the constraints made the call for us.”
- Vanessa Ingalls | CEO, Diamond T Services
Results
The contractor came into this project with a familiar method and left with a better approach for jobs like it. Since then, they’ve been making dewatering decisions based on what the site requires, not what they’ve always used.
Alfa Laval centrifuges made the performance possible. The confidence to run unfamiliar equipment under real production pressure came from having a partner with the support infrastructure to make it viable.
Operational Challenges Addressed
Getting the right equipment to the site was the immediate task. Keeping it running continuously, on a constrained footprint, with a crew that had never operated it before, was the actual job. Diamond T addressed each condition.
1. A Constrained Footprint Ruled Out the Familiar Options
Belt presses require physical space that tight dredging sites rarely offer, and staging, setup, and ancillary requirements compound quickly once work begins. Geobags ran into the same wall: filling, drainage, and storage all compete for the same footprint the active operation needs. There wasn’t room for either method to keep up with the job. Diamond T configured a centrifuge package that integrated directly into the active dredging operation without requiring the contractor to reorganize the site around it.
2. Production Pressure Required Equipment That Wouldn’t Stop
Belt presses require physical space that tight dredging sites rarely offer, and staging, setup, and ancillary requirements compound quickly once work begins. Geobags ran into the same wall: filling, drainage, and storage all compete for the same footprint the active operation needs. There wasn’t room for either method to keep up with the job. Diamond T configured a centrifuge package that integrated directly into the active dredging operation without requiring the contractor to reorganize the site around it.
3. Transitioning a Crew Off Equipment They Knew
The contractor’s operators had built their experience on belt presses, and the centrifuge learning curve felt like an operational risk going in. That hesitation is one Diamond T encounters on most first-time centrifuge projects. Field technicians trained the crew on-site before production began, working through parameters and equipment limits until operators could run independently. After working directly with the equipment and seeing the results firsthand, the contractor chose to invest in a new fleet of centrifuge packages for their next project.
