The principle of dedging operation is the removal of river sediments to crate a cannel where the flow has not,

or not yet, succeeded in creating one of the necessary size. With regard to dredging as a repated operation, attention should be given to the following: the capacity and number of dredgers: the types of dredgers; and transport and dumping of the spoil. For more thorough treatment of dredging, especially for development and maintenance of rivers as navigable waterways, the reader is referres to NEDECO (1965). Capacity and number of dredging units As already stated in Subsection2.1.1, the dredging operation has to be carried out as late as posible, wich means that only a limited amount of time is available. Even then it may still be difficult to determine the optimun alignment, and there is fair chance that part of the dredging work will be counteracted by resedimentation. Therefore, at this stage, the dredged cuy could best be regarded as provisional and its size be limited. Furthermore, a number of crossings normally have to be treated. The dredger should therefore quickly and provisionally deal with shallow rossings, thus producing and immediate benefit for shipping. Afterwards the avrious crossings could be brought to the required depth. The sequence in wich the crossings are tackled can best be treated first, irrspective of its location. The extra time spent in transit between the sites will be outweighed by the greater efficiency of the depth improvement. The linger the distance between the sites, the greater will be the travelling time and, in consequence, the ineffective use of the dredger. It might therefore be worth while to consider the use of two or more small dredgers instead of one large one. Because of the increase of efficiency, two small dredgers need a smaller total dredging capacity. On the other hand, a large unit can oprate at lower costs, and this tendency counteracts the above preference for a greater number of smaller dredgers. A comparison of the cost of one large dredger with two or more smaller dredgers may lead to the determination of the best size and numbers for the conditions considered. Types of dredging units A great variety of dredging units exist nowadays. For cannel dredging a special type of dredger will have to be selected wich is particularly capable of handling Sandy shials. Firthermore, the speed, flexibiity and ease with wich the dredging progamme can be executed are other important factors. However, it is never advisable to build dredgers of a too specialized kind for the following reasons: -Dredging is necessary (or allowed) during a part if the year only, so the rest of the year the equipment may have to undertake other types of dredging operations. -The conditions actually met may differ significantly from the conditions expected during the planning of the dredging scheme.

Four main types of dredges exist wich can dredge an almost flat bottom: (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) Bucket dredger: Cutter (suction) dredger: Dustpan (suction) dredger: Hopper (suction) dredger

The bucket dredger digs the soil out in clods using a chain of buckets rotating around a ladder (see Fig 5/2.3) and dumps it in barges wich carry the spoil over any distance to the location where it is to be used, for example, for dike construction or land fill. This type is seldom used ouside Europe for river dredging, and normally suction dredgers, wich collect and transport the spoil hydraulically, should be selected (NEDECO, 1973). The advantages and disadvantages of the types (i) and (ii) metioned above are discussed in another report by NEDECO (1965). The bucket dredger operates by moving gradually forward, swinging from one side to the other of the channel to be dredged. This implies that the channel cannot be passed by ships before dredging has been finished. Suction dredgers are made up of ahull in wich a sand-pump is installed. A sand-water mixture is pumped from the bed through a suction pipe. Since the suction pipe is flexible, dredging can take place at any depth, within certain limits of course. The main differences between the three types of suction and the way the (iv) are the way the seiment is losened from the bottom and the way the dredger moves during the dredging operation (see Figs 5/2.3 and 5/2.4). The cutter has a rotating cutter in front of the mouth of the suction pipe; this loosens the sediment in rather thick layers and it is sucked away. The dredger can be used for the dredging of sand, clay and ever soft rock, but of course with different types of cutters. The movement of the cutter dredger is apart from the application of spuds to some extent similar to that of the bucket dredger. A cutter dredger immediately makes the required width of channel but this does not remain, especially when dredging in an upstream direction. This is because no current is drawn unless rom the sides, wich even then may spoil the channel again as relatively large quantities of sediment enter the channel. The so-called dustpand dredger differs from a cutter dredger as the seiment is loosened by means of wter jets instead of a cutter. The mouth of the suction-pipe is wide (up to 10 m) and similar to the intake of a vacuum-cleaner. A dustpan dredger is only suitable for non-cohesive material wich is no too coarse. Operation of a dustpan dredger differs from that of a cutter dredger; the dredger is pulled over the crossing in the longitudinal direction a number of times, each time making a channel equial in width ot the width of the suction mouth.

The advantages of a dustpan dredger are: it is possible to remove a relatively thin layer (30 cm) and at the same time maintain a large output; and after one run of the dustpand dredger a small channel is created wich may attract the current thus maintaining the dredged cut. Comparing the dustpan dredger with a cutter dredger, the latter can be used more universally. Up till now the Hopper dredger has mainly been use don outer bars and other exposed where it is the only suitable method. As the name implies, this type of dredger stores the spoil in its own hull; after filling it sails to the dumping rea and the Hopper is emptied. It is therefore somewhat less effective because of loss of dredging time, and in consequence this type of dredging is somewhat more expensive. However its other characteristics often offer big advantage. The Hopper dredger is not anchored but sailing during dredging, offering the possibility of dredging in channels crowded with vessels. The flexibility of its suction pipe furthermore allows for dredging even under rather rough conditions. The suction pipe hangs backwards (see Fig 5/2.3) and the mouth of the pipe has a special form wich ploughs the bed when sailing and thus loosens the sand. The application of the Hopper dredger to rivers is now in progress, and might offer favourable possibilities in the future especially in rivers with dense traffic. Dumping of spoil As far as the dumping of spoil is concerned, the spoil can be: (i) (ii) (iii) Entirely removed from the river section; Dumped elsewhere in the river section where no un favourable influene upon the stability of the dreged channel is expected; Used in the preparation of river Works, for instance to provide guidance to the flow in or through the inproved channel.

Removing the spoil from the river section is expensive and in the long run may lead to some lowering of bed water level. Dumping spoil in the river needs careful selection of the dumping sites so that the spoil will settle without causing harm. Dep trougs in river bend normally meet this requirement. A variation of this way of handling the spoil is the so-called agitation dredging where by the bend material is brought into suspensin and the river flow is expected to provide further transport. This method has long been applied (hall and Darling, 1961), but is nowadays considered outdated. The use of the dumnped Spoil to guide the flow in the channel wich is being improved would seen to be a most attractive solution. However, to prevent failures a thorough knoweledge of the stream pattern and the related sediment transport is essentia. The method of dumping should be directedat concetrating the flow through the newly cut channle, thus creating a grater equilibrium depth. The use of coarse material is generally more successfulk tan useing finer

particles since these finer particles move over a greater distance before settling, leading to uncertaunty with regard to the exact location of settling. Transport of Spoil The transport of spoil from the dredger to the dumping rea can be carried out using hoppers, barges or by pumping it through a pipeline. Normally an operating dredger causes some obstruction to shipping, and it is only on wide rivers tan an additional satellite fleet of barges and tugs can be accommodated without too much hindrance to traffic. The use of barges, already restricted in this way, is also limited by their inability to dump spoil in shallow areas. The transport of spoil by means of a pipeline is a commonly-used method. The spoil can be pumped through the pipeline to any place, either back into the river or onto the Banks. If the transport distance is too great for the power of the dredger to cope with the pumping, one or more booster stations can be used. Floating pipelines do have a drawback, however: they may ginder river traffic. By careful planning on the dredge and transport operation this hindrance can be kept to a mnimum (NEDECO, 1965). Hopper dredger, wich store and transport their won spoil, are dradually coming into use on rivers since their size has been adapted for that purpose. They cause very Little hindrance to shipping but usually this way of dredging and transporting is more costle than applying the conventional methods mentioned above. The draught of the Hopper also restricts the dumping of the spoil in shallow areas. Consideration of local conditions and dredging costs as well as the extent to wich hindrance to navigation is acceptable will help the proper selesction of the type of dredger to be used.