Pon Power News
The online magazine of Pon Power, the Caterpillar dealer for diesel and gas engines and generators.
In this magazine we keep you up to date on the latest projects, new products & services and technical innovations.
VAN HECK - KOLUBARA MINE, SERBIA 2014
VAN HECK - PON POWER VIDEO CONTEST 2014
FACTS & FIGURES
PROJECT
VAN HECK GROUP
KOLUBARA MINE
KOLUBARA RIVER
Pumping 1.5 million cubic meters of water from the flooded Kolubara mine: a world record.
Internationally operating company specialized in water management and water displacement. Has used Cat engines in pumping installations for over 20 years.
Coal mining complex along the Kolubara river. Produces some 22.6 million ton of pit coal per year, solely for Serbian energy production.
123 kilometer long river in western Serbia.
WATCH THE MOVIE
FACTS & FIGURES
TWENTY CONTAINER SETS
Heck dispatched a fleet of 160 equipment-carrying trucks to Serbia: “We’re talking about twenty container sets. These are Cat-powered pumps that are built into a container. In addition, we needed to carry some 7.5 kilometers of pipes and peripherals, since we had to pump the water from the mine back into the river, a kilometer further down. The pump sets were installed on army pontoons, and after that, it was a matter of keeping them pumping. However with every couple of meters the water went down we were met with new surprises, obstacles of all kinds that were hitherto concealed under the surface. Machines, technical installations, vegetation, you name it. And slush, lots of slush. We had to keep moving the pontoons and improvise as we went.”
At the end of the day, Van Heck in six months time was able to pump out more than 1.5 million cubic meters of water from the mine, a world record. Just short of one year after the flood, the Kolubara is back in service. Jeroen van Heck is satisfied: “It was hard work, but rewarding!”
“It was hard work… But rewarding!”
Jeroen van Heck
Managing Director Van Heck
In 2007 the Kolubara river was detoured over a short distance to enable access to a vast potential of adjacent coal deposits. The capacity of the mine constructed at the site and bearing the name of the river, was enough to supply one-third of the country’s daily energy needs.
During the torrential rains of May 2014 the river flooded over its new embankments. The water mass followed the original riverbed, streaming into the mine without any obstruction. The speed of the flooding was such that nothing could be saved: huge excavation installations and a large many of the machines disappeared in a rapid swell that inundated the mine to a depth of tens of meters. Jeroen van Heck, managing director of Van Heck,
explains: “As a result of the mine having to close, the Serbian government had to import energy at a cost of one million Euros per day. As you can understand, they were anxious to have the mine up and running again as soon as possible.” European conventions require work of this magnitude to be put out to tender internationally, and after a lengthy tendering procedure, Van Heck was awarded the contract.
VAN HECK PULLS OF TECHNICAL MASTERPIECE BY
PUMPING FLOODED MINE DRY
ON HIGH GROUND
SERBIAN GOVERNMENT
COMPANY GETS
DUTCH WATER PUMPING
When, in May of 2014, the Kolubara river in Serbia spilled over its banks and flooded the adjoining Kolubara coal mine, the water filled a basin as large as the Lakes of Loosdrecht in the Netherlands, only ten times deeper. Van Heck, a Dutch firm based in Noordwolde, was contracted to pump out the mine using Cat-powered pump sets. A story of improvisation, hard miles, and boots in the mud.
