Dredge Hopper

The cargo hold of a trailing suction hopper dredger that stores dredged spoil until the dredger sails to a disposal ground. Slurry from the drag arm enters the hopper, sand and gravel settle, and surplus water spills over an adjustable overflow weir to raise the solids load; the settled spoil is then released through bottom doors or valves, by split-hull opening, or pumped ashore via the bow coupling. Hopper capacity, quoted in cubic meters, sets the trip yield; the largest TSHDs exceed 45,000 cubic meters.