A dredge pump is a horizontal centrifugal pump and is the heartbeat of a dredge. It is designed to handle abrasive granular materials and solids of limited size in suspension. Without the dredge pump, a cutter suction dredge would not be able to transport slurry.
The dredge pump is designed to take in sediment, debris, and other harmful materials from the surface floor into a suction pipe, carrying the material to a discharge site through a pipeline. The pump must be able to handle common solid fragments of various sizes that are capable of passing through the pump, minimizing downtime required for cleaning.