Quarries & Mines

• Free advice, onsite visits and quotations
• 24/7 cover - for planned and emergency support
• Fast delivery, typically within four hours for emergency call-outs
• Expert engineers and proven pumping specialists nationwide
• The UK's biggest range of advanced equipment and services - newer equipment means a better service and fewer breakdowns
• Unlike other providers, we service every diesel pump on hire every 14 days - a free additional service delivered as standard
• Flexible terms from short-term support to longer-term contract hire

Removing Lagoon Silt

A major aggregates company used fresh water to wash imported ballast – however, its large lagoon filled up rapidly with silt. Previously, this was removed with a grab machine and dumper trucks in a messy process that took two to three weeks. Sykes Sweepax pumps provided the solution. Easy to manoeuvre, and with no suction or lift restrictions, it's ideal for lagoon de-silting. All the silt was shifted in a week, moving it 100 metres – with the customer amazed at how quickly the job was done.

Bluewater Dewatering

Dewatering on a huge scale, Sykes was solely responsible for pumping for a major contractor during the first months of the massive Bluewater project, draining four huge lakes at the bottom of 120ft cliffs with water up to 10m deep. This was an essential step in transforming the derelict quarry into Europe’s biggest retail and leisure facility. Water was pumped off-site at 200 litres per second around the clock into the Thames 1.7km away. Sykes also guaranteed a 24/7 one-hour response to any problem that might have occurred throughout the operation to ensure the deadline was met.

Cement Quarry

Sykes designed a scheme to lower water levels at a cement quarry caused by high rainfall. Use of the quarry as an emergency reservoir normally kept volumes at an acceptable level. Levels started to rise rapidly, a threat of millions of gallons of water flooding the local area, including a major link road to a nearby motorway. Sykes installed a high head, high-flow pump plus 200mm diameter pumping main. A flow rate of 3,000 gallons per minute was required to reduce the lake level by over 2m. This was achieved within budget and on time. The project took a total of 14 weeks.

Estuary Silt

Sykes was asked to provide a pump to enable the client to jet estuary silt back into suspension at high tide, to be washed out to sea as the tide went out. An ex-army amphibious vehicle was deployed to help. The pump sat on the vehicle and was connected to a custom-made retractable jetting bar. This is one of many unusual projects Sykes pumps are asked to undertake due to their wide experience and flexible approach.