Vuyk Splitter 8000
| The seagoing split hopper barge is a proven design for carrying dredged materials. The easy and fast way of dumping makes this ship very interesting for use in combination with e.g. cutter dredgers. Vuyk Shipyards invented the split hopper concept with an hydraulic system in the early sixties. During the years that followed the split hopper barge became a popular type of ship, so Vuyk designed and constructed many of these barges for clients all over the world. The split hopper barge is an interesting type of self-unloading barge, because of its relatively simple construction and layout. On the other hand, the disadvantages of the split hopper barge are the rather high steel weight and the deflections of the two half hulls which could result in leaking of spoil. For those reasons no vessels of this type above 5,000 m3 / 7,000 DWT were ever built. Vuyk Engineering Rotterdam analysed the possibilities for improvement of the split type barge design with the ultimate goal to make the concept interesting for barges with a hopper volume of 6,000 up to 10,000 cubic meters. All split barges make use of cylinders and hinges at each end of the hopper. Adding a third connection (without dividing the hopper space in two parts) is considered to be a significant improvement. This third connection can be in the form of a third hinge and/or hydraulic cylinder. As a result, bending moments are reduced to such an extent that both substantial reduction in structural weight and deflections of the hull are achieved. This improvement cleared the path to develop larger sizes of split hopper barges. The Vuyk Splitter 8000 was born.With the experience acquired Vuyk Engineering Rotterdam is capable to deliver a range of seagoing split hopper barges designs in a fast and accurate way.
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