204 



THE IBBIOATION AGE. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE PNEUMATIC PIPE 

 DREDGE. 



The interest that has been aroused in the pneumatic 

 pipe Dredge through the several mentions of it in the 

 AGE has led to numerous inquiries concerning the 

 dredge and its principles of operation. Accordingly, 

 through the kindness of the Black Sand & Gold Recov- 

 ery Company of Chicago, which controls the American 

 rights for the dredge, we are able to produce several cuts 

 of the dredge and a comprehensible description of its 

 method of operation. What has interested us most in 

 this dredge is its simplicity, its adaptability and its low 

 cost of construction, operation and maintenance when 

 compared with its great capacity and with other dredges 

 of like capacity, thus making it available for reclama- 

 tion work by small land owners and for mining pur- 

 poses by small mining companies that have not been 



died and from there forces the material upward through 

 a discharge pipe by the use of water and compressed 

 air mixed under high pressure. It is not a suction or 

 centrifugal dredge; it is a hydro-pneumatic ram. 



From one to four or even more pipes can be op- 

 erated from the same scow; one pump and one air com- 

 pressor serving for all. Or with a central power plant 

 from one to a dozen pipes can be operated independently 

 at long distances apart and at a great distance from the 

 power plant. 



In dredging swift streams the pipe can be suspended 

 from a cable running between high banks or it can be 

 operated from the end of a crane or boom. It requires 

 only air and water under pressure to operate it, and as 

 these can be carried long distances through iron pipes 

 without appreciable loss, and the connection between 

 the transmission pipes and the pipe dredge itself can 

 be made with flexible tubing, it will be seen that the 





The Bed Rock Pneumatic or Compressed Air-Pipe Dredge. 



This shows the_ pipe lifting the heavy black sand out of one of nature's bed rock riffles. The precious minerals like gold and platinum 

 have been trapped in these pockets or riffles for untold ages, but no method to recover these stored up treasures had been devised before the 

 advent of the Pipe Dredge. This dredge will enter these pockets and recover the values they contain. 



able to raise the capital necessary to install an expensive 

 bucket dredge. 



The pneumatic pipe dredge is the invention of an 

 experienced hydraulic engineer and was originally de- 

 vised for mining purposes with a view to recovering 

 deep-seated mineral values from the bed rock of rivers 

 and streams without the necessity of moving the worth- 

 less superficial layers of sand. However, when it was 

 put into actual operation on a full sized scale it was 

 found to be the mqst efficient and cheapest dredging 

 device in existence for handling silt, sand 5 gravel, muck 

 or any other material that could be rapidly disintegrated 

 by the use of a hydraulic jet. 



The novelty in the dredge rests in the peculiar 

 construction of the "pipe head" which is so ingeniously 

 built that after being fitted to standard piping it jets 

 itself and the pipe deeply into the material to be han- 



adaptiveness of the pneumatic dredge is almost without 

 limitation and its simple construction reduces its re- 

 pairs and stoppages to a minimum, for it has no work- 

 ing parts liable to get out of order, being a system 

 of continuous pipes with no valves. The depth to which 

 it can be sunk to recover material is unlimited. It 

 can deliver its material farther than any other type of 

 dredge, and since a smaller crew is required to operate 

 it than is required by other dredges, the operating ex- 

 penses are considerably reduced. 



The capacity of the dredge is enormous. One pipe 

 with a 6-inch discharge will deliver at least 50 cubic 

 yards of sand per hour. A dredge with four 6-inch 

 pipes will deliver 4,000 cubic yards in twenty- 

 four hours, while one with four 10-inch pipes 

 will deliver over 15,000 cubic yards in twenty- 

 four hours, for it delivers steadily from 40 to 60 per 



