- it was built and designed by F.W.Payne that was majored in design engineering company in bucket line dredges in 1938
- it was made in England
- it has been used in 44 years until august 1982, at the time of tin prices has been dropped a lot
- it would run on diesel generated electricity 24 hours a day, in 2 shifts with approximately 20 to 30 workers per shift
weight : 4500 tonnes
pontoon : lengths of 75 meters
breaths of 35 meters
depth of 3.1 meters
digging depths is 33 meters
bucket capacity : 0.50976 cubic meters
number of buckets : 115
horse power : 2247 horse power
dredging capacity : 358000 cubic meters
- year of operation is from 1938 until 1992
- construction cost 30k
- this dredge was originally built for the southern Malayan tin dredging Ltd, a company formed in1926 which operates a further 5 dredges in Batu Gajah and Tanjung Tualang area
- the dredge was built using steel girders, many of which came from British and have the manufactures' names stamped on them, such as Shelton, Skinningrove, and Appleby-Frobingham
- it was moved by means 1.5km long cable, worked from the control area
- if the cable was released on the right side, the dredge will move to the left
- at the top of the dredge, it got a bird's eye view over the surrounding ponds. there are 3 ponds in the vicinity and the one TT5 sits on is the neighbouring ponds, which hopefully will encourage more birds in the area
- the conveyor buckets would dig the tin, bearing soil and transport it upwards, emptying the contents into an oscillating drum
- tin would then be extracted through a system of jigs and screens, leaving the access material to disposed of via a system of chutes at the back of the dredge
- from the end of the dredge, we can walk along the narrow walkway on the roof and entered the next area where we had a close up view of the buckets all the way to the very top. further on, we got to look down on the jig. leaving the buckets, the excavatedmaterial was broken up by jets of high pressure water as it fell on the revolving or oscillating screens
- large stones and rubble were retained by these screen, while the tin bearing material passed to the jigs. these were vibrating trays, where water was forced up from below, pulsing up in a wave, so the heavy tin sank and the lighter hematite floated off. from this primary separating plant,the tin went downto the palong below and into a big container ready for transportation
- the waste went out via a disposal chute at the tail end of the dredge and was subsequently dumped on the banks. these tailing were bulky as axcavating just one cubic metre of new ground produced 20 cubic metres of waste material, as the new ground was compact, but the waste was separated and full of water
- an area near the jigs was designated as the ating area, where the men had their food. a selection of tools is now exhibited here
- back at the deck level, we can see many hoses above our heads, which carried the tin from the jigs to the collecting area
- at the control area, on the wall there is a list of the major components of the dredge and the date they were installed and last serviced
- we can see that the bucket band was fitted in 1974 and the giant hammer used for removing the pins, which held the bucket in place
- there are squats toilets on the dredge at the back end, which open directly to the pond
- the noise and vibration from the dredger is almost unbearable
- during the heyday of the tin mining industry, 40 dredges were operated in perak, with a record of 105 working in1929 in the whole of the peninsula. this particular dredge stopped work around 1983 after more than 40 years service
- this dredge now is owned by Perak State Government
references
- http://stcoponegripen.blogspot.com/2010/12/robotics-part-3.html
- http://cavingliz.multiply.com
- http://tennysonlee.com/2012/05/01/the-last-tin-dredge-in-kinta-valley-tt5/
- http://thriftytraveller.wordpress.com
- http://www.gotaiping.com
- http://malaysianminerals.com
- http://thestar.com.my
- http://cavingliz.multiply.com
- http://www.photomalaysia.com
- http://www.bt.com.bn/travel/2008/09/21/historical_tin_dredge_gets_facelift_to_attract_visitors
- http://ismailisa.blogspot.com/2011/10/tt5-tin-dredge-kapal-korek-tanjung.html