ࡱ> BDA7 +bjbjUU ,N7|7|'lXXXXXXXl l 00000000N P P P P P P $ t X00000t XX00  0X0X0N 0N p N XXN 0$ pA>Ԕl N N 0 N  N llXXXXAmerican Dredges Now Operating in the Urals By JOHN B BUBB Berkeley, CA I IN DECEMBER, 1924, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics sent a commission to the Unites States to study placer dredges, in order that the Soviet government might profit by American dredging experience and, in turn, could apply the knowledge thus gained, together with American equipment, to the development of its platinum and gold placers. The commission, composed of five representatives of the trusts directly interested in the development of dredging in the U.S.S.R., spent about four and a half months in the United States, investigating various placers and their particular characteristics, and after making a thorough study of the different types of dredges, methods and costs of operation, and the dredge equipment and plants of the various dredge-manufacturing companies, decided upon the selection of 13 cu.ft. bucket dredges for the Lower Tagil placers of Ural, and 71 cu.ft. bucket dredges for the Kitlem District of Ural, as being best suited for the respective situations. The report of this commission, Dredge Work in America, was published in Moscow after its return to the U.S.S.R. The Soviet government accepted the recommendations of its commission, and in April, 1925, placed an order through the Amtorg Trading Corporation, New York, with the Yuba Manufacturing Company, of San Francisco, for five electrically operated, all-steel Tuba dredges, four of these with 13-cu.ft. buckets, and one with a 71 cu.ft. bucket. The equipment for the dredges, together with spare parts, was delivered at New York between Nov. 1, 1925, and the middle of February, 1926, and in turn was shipped direct to Leningrad on vessels chartered by the Soviet government. From Leningrad the equipment was shipped to the field over the Trans-Siberian Railroad, via Perm, to Tagil, where it was transferred from the broad-gage lines to a narrow-gage line running from Visim-Tagil to Utkinsk. A railroad extending from Ural station, on the latter railroad, was constructed through the mountains to the sites of two of the dredges, and two spurs were built from the line near Visim station to the dredge sites near the village of Visimo-Shaitansky Zavod. Approximately 18 miles of railroad had to be built in the Lower Tagil district before the equipment for the 13 cu.ft. bucket dredges could be (delivered to the respective dredge sites. Equipment for the 71-cu.ft.-bucket dredge was shipped to Vija on the broad-gage railroad, transferred to the narrow-gage railroad to Staraja Lala, and then hauled from the latter station to the Kitlem district, a distance of approximately 46 miles. The placers of the Ural Platinum Trust are divided into four districts, Nizny (Lower) Tagil, Kitlem, Thes, and Saozerie. Executive offices of the trust are at Sverdlovsk (formerly Ekaterinburgh) and are under the direction of a Soviet manager, the chairman of the Platinum Trust, and a technical director, with his staff of engineers. The Soviet manager reports to the Supreme Council in Moscow through the Sub-Supreme Council of Ural, and is responsible for all finances, materials, labor and welfare work. The technical director is responsible for all engineering work and the operation of the various mines and dredges and is under the direction of the Soviet manager. Likewise, each separate district has a local Soviet manager, a technical director, and an organization practically paralleling that of the main executive office. No executive can act independently, and all question~ which arise must be passed upon in committee. Also, all recommendations, or actions, on new questions must be passed from the committee to the Sub-Supreme Council of Ural, or to the Supreme Council in Moscow, if necessary, to await the approval or rejection of the Soviet government. The placers of the Nizny Tagil Jistrict, in which the 13 cu.-ft. bucket dredges are operating, are about 105 miles northwest of Sverdlovsk and about 25 miles southwest of Tagil, the nearest town on the main line railroad. The placers are on the Martian, Shaitanka, and Visim rivers. The Martian flows to the south and to the west and into the Shaitanka. Visim River flows to the south and to the west, practically paralleling the Martian, and into the Utka, which is joined by the Shaitanka at the village of Visimo-Shaitansky Zavod. The Utka flows to the west and then to the south and joins the Kama. a tributary of the Volga. Ordinarily the Visim, Martian, and Shaitanka rivers are small streams, but they often become torrents of considerable proportions during the rainy season, in July and August. All of the ground along the Visim, Martian, and Shaitanka rivers, from where the Martian flows into it, has been worked by hand by the peasants for about 125 years. No workings are in evidence beyond a short distance where the Visim and Shaitanka join the Utka River or above the junction of the Martian and the Shaitanka rivers. All of the creeks between the Visim and the Martian rivers are still being worked by hand, as well as many of the higher benches which are outside of the dredging areas, as determined and posted by the Soviet government. POWER PLANT AT TAGIL Power is furnished for the dredges by a steam plant in Tagil, approximately 25 miles from the field. Gas from the blast furnace at the steel plant is utilized for fuel under the boilers. Two 5,000-kw. steam turbo-generators are used for making power. This, generated at 2,000 volts, is stepped up by a modern transformer station to 38,000 volts, and transmitted to the dredges over a high-tension line which makes a circuit of the dredging fields. Four transformer stations are placed at convenient points in the field and 4400-volt feeder lines extend from these to the dredges, where the voltage is stepped down through transformers on the dredges to 440 volts. A high-tension line from the main transformer station in Tagil to the field is carried on built-up steel poles, footed on concrete, within the city limits of Tagil, and thereafter on wooden poles and wooden structures. The lower end of the poles and the poles in the structures are usually about a foot above the ground and are bolted between pairs of old rails, which are imbedded in the ground. Cross arms on the poles are made of angles. The transmission line is well constructed and is amply protected by lightning arresters. Right-of-way for the line is cleared of all timber and brush and is free from fire hazard. Modern transformers, insulators, switches, and other equipment were supplied by the German General Electric International Company. The copper wire was manufactured in the U.S.S.R. Fireproof reinforced-concrete and brick transformer stations were built at all points along the line. The dredges, transformer stations and the power plant in Tagil are connected by a telephone system with the operating office in the village of Krasny Ural. PRELIMINARIES TO DREDGING Ordinarily the Visim and Martian rivers are small streams, and to get enough water for starting the dredges it was necessary to build dams at the sites of No. 8 and No. 10 dredges and to rebuild an old dam at the site of No. 9. No. 11 was started in the pond at Visimo-Shaitansky Zavod, which formerly served as a source of water supply for a blast furnace and a small generating station. Construction and maintenance of the dams add considerable expense to the cost of operating the dredges. All of the streams are filled with slimes and slickings from the hand workings, which have been carried on for years. This material is not suitable for the dams, and material from the benches must be hauled in. Also, it is necessary to drive piling to prevent undercutting. The material for the dams is dug by hand, hauled an eighth to a quarter of a mile in dump carts, each drawn by a single horse, and usually driven by women or boys, and is spread on the dump by hand. The piles are driven by a crude, portable driver, the tub being raised by a windlass operated by eight to ten workmen. It is no uncommon sight, during the construction of a dam, to see an endless string of dump carts working between the pits and the dam, and to see the pile-driving crew laboriously struggling with the piles and the cribbing. The Ural Platinum Trust hopes to install excavating machines, trucks, and mechanical pile drivers. Such equipment will greatly facilitate construction work and repairs and will relieve much of the anxiety during the flood stages now suffered by those in charge of operations. DREDGE BUILDING BEGUN The railroads to the dredge sites and the transmission line were completed by the Ural Platinum Trust in the spring of 1926 and the construction of the first dredge was started on June 1 of that year. The second dredge was started on Aug. 30, followed by the third on Sept. 29 and the fourth on Dec. 2. Early progress on the construction of the dredges was slow, owing to the lack of organized construction crews and the scarcity of construction equipment. In the spring of 1927, a better field organization was perfected, some additional construction equipment was installed, and the work of completing the dredges was carried on in earnest. On June 30, 1927, the first dredge was put into the water after being under construction for 395 days, an average construction crew of about 115 men being employed. Approximately 50 per cent of the cost of construction of the dredges was chargeable to the labor. involved in pulling and hauling the various parts of the dredges into place with hand winches and gin poles. But the U.S.S.R. has profited by its first experience in the construction of modern dredges; more efficient construction crews have been organized; and power equipment is supplanting the hand methods which have been used for generations. I venture the opinion that future dredge work will be carried on progressively; that sufficient and proper construction tools will be used; and that the final costs of construction, as well as the time element, will reflect the advances being made within the U.S.S.R. 285 M+: CJOJQJ,;JKMtu4]^st67QR %%%%+++"+++* 00P/ =!"#$%# i@@@ Normal1$7$8$H$_HaJmH sH tH <A@< Default Paragraph Font:O: p1# F F ~d/^F `~$O$ c2$da$$O$ c3$da$O" t4d,O2, p5$ da$$OB$ c6$da$$OR$ c7$da$,Ob, p8$ da$4Or4 p9$ d`a$6O6 p10$ d`a$6O6 p11$ B^d^^a$0O0 p12 d^(O( p13 d4O4 p2$ d`a$4O4 p4$ d`a$$O$ c5$da$4O4 p6$ d`a$4O4 p7 $ d`a$O t9!d6B`"6 Body Text":CJOJQJ'N,;JKMt u 4]^st67QR!!!!''''00000"0000000000000000000000000+#++$&+% FKqv  / 4   = C   ) 6 "'(-.6"gprw $*.eiPUdm"+59mvIN)/afXijonw'u~6 < kl4=B ~=P!",%4%Y&f&'33333333333333333<K'Charlie Michael;C:\az mining journal\scans\russian dredges in the urals.docCharlie MichaelXC:\az mining journal\non-POSTED TMJ TOPICS\KNICK KNACKS\russian dredges in the urals.doc@JJМGJJ'@@UnknownGz Times New Roman5Symbol3& z ArialE&Berlin Sans FB"AhX&`c  E!xx2(2+American Dredges Now Operating in the UralsCharlie MichaelCharlie MichaelOh+'0 0< X d p|,American Dredges Now Operating in the UralsmerCharlie MichaelharharNormal Charlie Michael3arMicrosoft Word 9.0w@H'@T@ Ԕ ՜.+,0 hp|   cE( ,American Dredges Now Operating in the Urals Title  !"#$%&')*+,-./02345678:;<=>?@CRoot Entry FP(JԔE1Table(WordDocument,NSummaryInformation(1DocumentSummaryInformation89CompObjjObjectPoolP(JԔP(JԔ  FMicrosoft Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89q