Sediment removal

Dredging consists in the removal of sediment, wood and other debris lying at the bottom of water courses, in particular at the foot of dams. Such debris can damage the concrete structures or other dam components such as stoplogs and water intake trash racks.

Furthermore, the accumulation of sediment also reduces the quantity of water reaching the turbines, which reduces electricity production capacities.

In light of the diversity of obstacles that can be found and the total volume to handle, a variety of dredging techniques exist to deal with all situations. We analyse your needs and deliver appropriate solutions tailored to your dam dredging operations with no limit on reservoir depth.

• – Clamshell buckets
• – Grapple
• – Pumping
• – Airlift

We also deliver custom dredging systems for specific requirements such as the re-injection of removed sediments into the downstream flow. For such delicate missions, we have formed a partnership with instrumentation specialists to perform flow measurement, content measurement etc. The dredging equipment can therefore be used for real-time measurement of the quantity of suspended particulate to ensure accurate monitoring of dredging. We use GPS satellite tracking systems for accurate control of dredging zones. The positioning of the dredging equipment and the quantity of matter removed are recorded and compared with bathymetric charts to track work progress. All this information is sent in real time to the crane operator or the works manager for first-hand management of the variables.

Hydrokarst can deliver sediment removal services from land or on water from a barge. We own 700 m² of pontoon platforms which enables us to install all the equipment required to complete the dredging work to your requirements.