dws-van-heck-kolubara-mine-flooded-770pxVan Heck has won a contract to pump floodwater out of the open pit Kolubara coal mine in Serbia. A total of 20 diesel driven HK700 pumps with a combined total capacity of more than 100,000 m3/hour and more than 9 km of pipework are being transported to the mine.

The first pumps are expected to be operational within 6 days. Van Heck expects to fill more than 120 trailers with material in the coming fortnight. Van Heck group made this announcement on 2 September.

Resume coal production
The Kolubara mine flooded in May of this year when the river Kolubara broke its banks after extreme rainfall.

Estimations of the amount of water in the mine vary between 140 and 185 million cubic meters, all of which will have to be pumped out before the mine can become operational again.

The mine, about one hour’s drive from the capital Belgrade, provides coal for the nearby power station. This power station, which supplies approximately ¾ of Serbia’s electrical power, is now running on coal brought in by trains from other areas and electricity is being bought in from neighbouring countries. A very costly exercise.

Van Heck has started loading and expects to fill more than 120 trailers with material in the coming fortnight.

dws-van-heck-kolubara-mine-dunball-giants-350px  Discharge from the flooded Somerset Levels by Van Heck's eight 'Dunball giants' in February 2014.

Dunball giants
Earlier this year, in February, Van Heck Group also undertook a large deployment its massive pump to the Somerset Levels.

The pumps were nicknamed 'Dunball giants' in the British media, referring to the village where an impressive line-up of eight pumps moved vast amounts of water out of the flooded plains, into the river Parret.

This news item was originally published on the facebook page of Van Heck Group.

Also read on this website 
• Dunball giants: photo coverage of an amazing flood relief effort on Somerset Levels, 19 February 2014
• 'Sava levees did remarkably well, given extreme water levels', 26 May 2014

More information
Van Heck Group
Noordwolde, the Netherlands
+31 561 43 17 39
www.vanheckgroup.com

News report by Al Jazeera on the Kolubara in opencast lignite mine in Serbia just after it flooded.