Hydraulic and Mechanical Dredges

In the business of wetlands excavation and dredging, there are two main types of dredges: mechanical and hydraulic. Both of these dredges serve a purpose, but the hydraulic dredge is less damaging to the Louisiana bayou.

Mechanical dredges bring materials from the bottom of a body of water or its banks via a clamshell or a bucket. Hydraulic dredges, suck up this mixture of water and sediment (slurry) and move it to another area by a pipeline.

Stan’s Bobcat 337 Mini-Excavator/Dredger in action 

What are Mechanical Dredges?

Dredges can move just about any kind of material you can think of. These dredges serve multiple purposes. We see them used in construction projects here in Louisiana. They also keep harbors, marinas, ports, and canals clean and free of waste. Some dredges are even used to help restore sand that has disappeared due to the effects of erosion.

Mechanical dredges, like the backhoe dredger (BHD), are much like the land-based backhoe or excavator. A mechanical pair of arms lifts heavy loads, and a large attached bucket digs down into the underwater surface.

A grab or clamshell dredge takes advantage of a set of buckets located at the end of its arms to take out sediment. A bucket-line dredge, on the other hand, uses a series of buckets. These buckets are attached to a chain that mechanically digs up and moves out sediment.

What is a Hydraulic Dredge?

A hydraulic dredge pumps materials through floating pipes to be released on shore, or on board, where they may be filtered through for oysters.

These dredges have different hydraulic ratings that are made to work in specific environments. An open harbor would require more suction. Still water or parts of the Louisiana bayou could get by with a low-horsepower hydraulic dredge.

There are various hydraulic dredges to fit a variety of jobs, like the cutter suction dredge, the chain ladder dredge, and the hopper dredge. But the core of a hydraulic dredge is the dredge pump.

The dredge pump is responsible for creating the vacuum needed to suck in material from the bottom of a body of water. It supplies the flow to move material along the pipeline to the site of its disposal.

Too Tight for Typical Dredging Machinery?

For waterways that are too tight for the typical marine machinery and out of reach for dredging, Stan’s fleet of equipment can handle shallow water operations.

Stan’s can work alongside the large hydraulic dredges. Instead of pumping sediment into marsh and swamp, where it would disastrously disturb the natural environment, Stan’s can construct levee systems to contain the disposal and may assemble piping systems to transport unneeded materials.

Contact Stan’s Airboat and Marsh Excavator Service today for all your shallow water operations.