Suction Dredging Work

 

 

 

 

 

 

An indispensable item of equipment over a wide range of the maritime civil engineer’s activities is the dredge with its ancillary units, such as hopper barges, tugs, reclamation units, and servicing craft. The material to be removed by dredging operations is usually derived from one of two sources or from a combination of both. In harbors at the mouths of rivers, quantities of silt are carried down in suspension and tend, partly because of the deceleration of the flow in the increased waterway available and partly because of the effects of increasing salinity, to be deposited at the mouth, usually the site of harbor works - barge service.

This process has produced areas of marked agricultural fertility. While over a large time span the action is one of great benefit, in the short term it is generally a considerable inconvenience. The skillful employment of modern dredging equipment, however, has indicated possibilities of getting the best of both worlds. The other source of deposited material likely to obstruct navigation is littoral (coastal) drift, especially in areas where there is a sizable tidal range. The incoming tide frequently brings suspended material, some proportion of which settles to the bottom around the turn of the tide when the movement of water is at a minimum. In the absence of any countervailing tendency, an accumulation takes place, which again requires dredging. The area that can be covered by one placing of the moorings is limited. Continuous lifting and replacing of the moorings are not only time-consuming but must be carried out in such a way as to offer minimum obstruction to navigation, a requirement that sometimes involves a great number of interruptions in dredging operations - barge rental.

In areas in which the deposited silt is highly mobile and accumulates in considerable quantities, it can be economically removed by a suction dredge, which pumps water mixed with silt into open hoppers. By adjusting the capacity of the hopper to the rate of flow from the pump, the water can be made to remain in the hopper long enough to deposit most of the silt. Careful design of the pumping machinery is required to assume a continuous mixture of maximum silt with minimum water. For more information please visit our site https://www.Pacificmaritimegroup.com/