DREDGING

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DREDGING TECHNIQUES
 INTRODUCTION

WHAT IS DREDGING?

 Dredging, as a process, is used to remove the deposits

percolated underwater for the purpose of clearing the water
pathway for ships to pass.
 To create adequate space to construct important bridges,
dykes and dams and to weed out silt, intoxicants and
pollutants from the bottom of the water.
 WHAT IS DREDGING PROCESS?
• Dredging process mainly involves carrying out excavation, of either naturally deposited
sediments or man-made debris such as rocks, bottom sediments, construction debris, and
refuse, and plant or animal matter on the bottom of either shallow seawater or
freshwaters.
• Maintenance Dredging is a broader term which includes clearing of deposits and
cleaning, widening or deepening of a water body using either a suction or scooping device
(generally called a dredger).

• For dredging, equipment called dredger is used to remove the deposited sediments from
an inlet creek, waterway or ocean floor.
• Dredging process is a blended essence of following three independent elements:
excavation, transportation of excavated material and then usage or proper disposal of
dredged material.
 HISTORY OF DREDGING
• Ancient authors refer to harbour dredging. The seven arms of the Nile were channelled
and wharfs built at the time of the pyramids (4000 BC), there was extensive harbour
building in the eastern Mediterranean from 1000 BC and the disturbed sediment layers
gives evidence of dredging.
• Mills were developed around 1575, these were a sort of dredging equipment which was
primarily employed for digging in ports.
• Dredging machines have been used during the construction of the Suez Canal from the
late 1800s to present day expansions and maintenance.
• The completion of the Panama Canal in 1914, the most expensive U.S. engineering project
at the time, relied extensively on dredging.
 IMPORTANCE OF DREDGING
Dredging is an activity of huge importance in the maritime industry.
It serves the following purposes:
• It helps in safer voyages by pacifying underwater traffic and by maintaining proper bottom
clearance
• In some cases, dredging is indeed employed for the extraction of ocean gems such as shellfish and
molluscs. So, dredging can help in exploring amazing varieties of these sea creatures.
• To channelize the construction of a network of bridges, dams or other civil engineering works in
water, dredging is a primary requirement. These are only proper dredging tools which remove
the requisite amount of underwater silt and other compositions and make the excellent
constructions true that a civil engineer wonder
• Dredging is also important to make the marine eco-system pollution-free. It helps in eco-friendly
disposal of deposited polluting toxicants and harmful materials, without causing any harm to the
marine ecosystem.
• Dredging helps not only in preserving flora and fauna in water bodies but also used for
recreational activities.
 METHODS OF DREDGING
The dredging process is a combination of digging the soil in the water bed and removing or
extracting that soil from the excavated surface. Hence, the types of dredging methods can
be classified into three categories depending upon the how the debris is extracted from the
site,
1. Mechanical Dredging
• Mechanical dredging is the process in which the sediments are picked
up using mechanical tools such as buckets, grabs etc.
• Mechanical dredging is usually carried out near the shore line. Hence
for removing sediment on land or shoreline, mechanical dredging is
used.
• The mechanical dredging operation can be done using a barge or
operated from shore as well.
[Link] Dredging
• In the hydraulic dredging process, the sediment is removed from the dredged site by using
pumps, usually centrifugal pumps, sucked into the pipe used to transport the sediment.
• The sediment is mixed with water and made into a slurry mixture which makes it easier
for the pump to transfer it.

[Link] Dredging

• The method of hydrodynamic dredging is normally used for maintenance of

channel, port , harbour depths etc. If a new site needs to be freshly dredged,
this method won’t prove useful and efficient.
• This method utilises water injection technology, which injects large amounts
of water using nozzles attached to a horizontal jet bar powered by
pressurised pumps.
 Hydraulic Dredging
Mechanical Dredging

Hydrodynamic Dredging
 TECHNIQUES OF DREDGING
Pontoon Mounted Grabbing

• It consists of a barge-mounted crane, propelled by a tug and assisted by two hopper

barges.

• In operation, the clamshell grab, is dropped to the sea bed in the open position and bites
into the sediment due to its weight and the action of the closing mechanism.
Dragline

• This method consists in dragging an open steel bucket along the sea bed until it fills up.

• When full, the bucket is lifted and its load dumped on the shore or into a barge.
Pontoon Mounted Pumping

• The pontoon-mounted pump dredger consists of a large submersible pump suspended

from a pontoon and dunked into the sea bed
Trailing Suction

• When dredging large volumes of cohesionless sediment, a trailing suction dredger is

normally used. A trailing suction dredger is a hopper vessel with a trailing arm
suspended over the side and dragged over the sea bed.
Blasting
• When thick layers of rock or isolated rocky outcrops need dredging, blasting is an
efficient method of excavation.
• In this method, a series of closely spaced holes is drilled into the sea bed, charged with
explosives and fired.
• The holes in the sea bed may be drilled either from above water level, or directly from
the sea bed.
Bucket Dredging

• The bucket dredger, also known as the ladder dredger, consists of an endless bucket
chain scraping the sea bed while the dredger is moved across the area to be dredged by
means of a series of anchor ropes
Cutter-Suction

• Cutter-suction dredgers are among the most popular type of dredger, available in a wide
range of sizes ranging from the small portable units that fit on a large road trailer to
ocean-going vessels over 100 metres long.
Bed leveller
• This type is used to level the bed surface which has recently been dredged.
Backhoe Dredgers

• Backhoe dredgers are land excavators mounted on a pontoon equipped with spuds like a
cutter-suction dredger.
Chiselling

• Rock breaking may be carried out by a steel chisel dropped through a height by a
crane. Normally it is only used in low volume cases where trimming of rock is required.
Production rates are very low
Air-lift dredgers

• This dredger uses high pressure air jets instead of water jets for material flow at the
mouth of the suction pipe.
 DIFFERENT TYPES OF DREDGING SHIPS OR
VESSELS

Mechanical Dredgers
Bucket Dredger: The bucket dredger is usually a fixed type stationary dredger
which rotates in arc by winches around the dredging site.
Grab Type Dredger: This is a stationary dredger which has a grab as a dredging
tool (Two equivalent scoops or shell operated hydraulically). Due to its design It is
also known as clamshell dredger.
Backhoe Dredger: Also known as fixed arm dredger, it is a stationary type dredger
which is usually mounted on a barge or work near the banks.
Hydraulic Dredgers
Suction Dredger: It is a stationary dredger normally used for mining sand. The
suction pipe of this dredger is inserted into the sand deposit and water jets are
used to bring the sand up from the excavation site.
Cutter Suction Dredger: It is another stationary dredger with a cutter head as a
dredging equipment to loosen the base which is to be dredged, and it is similar to
the suction dredger.
Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger: This is a self-propelled ship carrying the
dredger equipment having a hold or hopper arrangement to fill it with excavated
material while following a pre-set dredging operation.
 Y O U
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