Cutterhead

This cutterhead is made from steel and weighs over 11 tonnes.

It is from a 1500 hp right-hand, rotating cutter suction dredger and was used to remove materials from the seabed in land reclamation and large construction projects in the Far East. In 1995 it became obsolete, when the dredger on which it was used was converted to left-hand rotation.

Regardless of size, cutterheads revolve at a speed of 20 to 35 revolutions a minute. Not surprisingly, the cutter teeth suffer very high rates of wear. To combat this the teeth are made so they can be quickly and easily changed: 30 teeth take only about 25 minutes to change. When used in sand a cutter may require new teeth after a couple of days but when used in rock perhaps every 30 minutes.

Please do not climb on the cutterhead.

[Illustration]
cutter suction dredger
cutter head

One of the row of anchors placed along Park Row and displayed by the Greenwich Maritime Museum Click for a larger image

The sign shows the head of an excavator intended for cleaning the seabed

The Cutterhead was photographed on the same day Click for a larger image