PRESENTED BY

S.V.VAIDYA
B.E (Civil), F.I.E., STRUCT E.(I), F.I.C.A., F.I.C.C
CHARTERED ENGINEER

PRESIDENT
Gayatri projects Limited
6-3-1090, b-1, T.S.R. Towers,
Rajbhavan Road, Somajiguda,
Hyderabad – 500 082, A.P., India
Tel : +91 40 2331 0330 / 4296 / 4284
Direct : +91 40 2339 8435
Fax : +91 40 2339 8435
Cell : 098494 56821 / 098901 98945
E-mail : shrikant@svvaidya.com
vaidya_sv2002@yahoo.com
HYDRAULIC DREDGING
SYSTEM
1. WATER MANAGEMENT
2. PRESENTATION
3. METHOD STATEMENT / METHODOLOGY
4. TECHNICAL INFORMATION
 WATER MANAGEMENT

• Water is a precious and scarce commodity.

There is no alternative but to store rain
water at whatever place possible. Most
suitable places are impounded reservoirs of
dams and natural lakes.
 WATER MANAGEMENT

• So far not enough efforts are applied to

desiltation of dams and lakes. Over the
years siltation has reduced impounding
capacity to the extent as low as 20 %.
Reasons are many, prominent among
these is lack of working methodology.
 WATER MANAGEMENT

• Due to many restrains and constrains

conventional desilting methods have
limitations. The ideal solution would be
to have compact dredge units having
easy assembly, low operation cost and
minimal loss of water.
 WATER MANAGEMENT

• All these features are available when

you adopt dredging by Hydraulic
System, commonly known as HDS
(Hydraulic dredging System). It
consists of submersible heavy duty
pumps and cutters operated on
Hydraulic power supplied by HPP
(Hydraulic Power Pack).
 WATER MANAGEMENT

• Motors run on Electrical OR

Pneumatic power are having many
working problems while working at
greater depths.
 WATER MANAGEMENT

• Motors powered by hydraulic system

are ideal for working at greater depths
of water. Hence this method is
extensively used in Developed countries
in Europe and America.
 WATER MANAGEMENT

• Today pumps capable of discharge flow

of 200 M3 solids per hour from depth
upto 50 M are available in European
markets
 WATER MANAGEMENT

• Even these pumps and cutters and their

prime movers could be manufactured
in India except may be for few parts
such as seals, which makes meager part
of whole assembly, could be imported.
 WATER MANAGEMENT

• The secret of working at greater depths

in water is to prevent water entering in
bearings and some components of
pumps and motors. It is here special
seals made out of alloy of various
metals plays crucial role.
 WATER MANAGEMENT

• One Hydraulic unit consists of

following components.
1. Suitable Catamaran Pantoon

2. Heavy duty electrically operated winch to handle dredge unit.

3. Generator to supply power to winch, few workshop tools and lighting .

4. Heavy Duty submersible pump and cutters units .
5. Polyethylene discharge pipes.

6. Hydraulic power Pack.

 WATER MANAGEMENT

7.Suitable capacity tug to move Pantoon.

8. Usual Marine operations items such as Floats, Anchors, boats, ropes etc.

9. Booster pump as per requirement.

10. Boat equipped with latest electronic equipment and instrument to position pantoon, record
depths, Computer for calculating volume dredged and many Survey related items.

11. Boat equipped with Diving gear and Diving team consisting 2 divers and 1 Forman having
expertise in deep diving.

12. Service boat for transporting Crew and materials.

 WATER MANAGEMENT

Out of above we may have to import

items 4 & 6 initially. Later only seals
could be imported, as explained above,
thereby reducing cost considerably.
Item 10,11 and 12 can serve up to 4
units.
 WATER MANAGEMENT

Considering average capacity of one

dredger comprising two dredge units as
300 cum solids [2 x 200 x 0.75] per Hr
and 16 Hrs of actual working per day
and 22 days of working in a month the
silt removal rate could be around one
Lakh cum per month.
 WATER MANAGEMENT

Disposal of silt faces many problems

particularly when loss of water can not be
afforded. Since plenty of water is also
pumped out along with the silt/dredge
material it is necessary to have arrangement
by which only water flows back into
reservoir/lake. This aspect is well explained
in methodology annexure-I.
 WATER MANAGEMENT

Applications of this system are many yet

each location may have different approach
depending upon topography of adjacent
land/area, type of silt formation and
availability of constructing work harbour
in the proximity of dredging area.
 WATER MANAGEMENT
Generally following categories are
identified.
1. Impounded Reservoir of Dam.
a. Without loss of water.
b. With loss of water.

2. Natural lakes.

3. Canals.

4. Reclamation of Land with sea sand.

5. Perennial dredging for Fisheries Harbour to maintain adequate draft for fishing boats
 WATER MANAGEMENT

Silt in impounded Reservoirs of dams

have rich manure value. This could be
called by-product of such dredging.
 PRESENTATION
ON
CAPACITY RESTORATION OF
RESERVOIRS & LAKES
BY
HYDRAULIC DREDGING SYSTEM

JUNE 2006
 CAPACITY RESTORATION OF RESERVOIRS &
LAKES

• Water, Air and Food is the basic need for

human being as well as for all living
creatures.

• Man has used his intelligence to create

artificial lakes, storages by constructing
dams to retain water for the use of drinking
and irrigation purposes.

• The history of construction of dam goes

back about 1000 years

• In the last century, a large number of dams

have been constructed all over the world. In
India also, dam construction has taken a
quantum leap after Independence.
CAPACITY RESTORATION OF RESERVOIRS &
LAKES

• Dams are categorized by their storage capacities as large, medium or small.

Dams are also categorized by the construction material namely earthen
dams, masonry dams and concrete dams.

• Normally, the life of a dam is taken as 60 to 100 years.

• The water storage behind a dam has been used for the purpose of irrigation
and drinking by the population downstream of the dam.

• The capacity of a dam is ascertained from the need of the population and
the irrigation requirement and this is achieved by providing adequate
height of dam at a suitable location.
CAPACITY RESTORATION OF RESERVOIRS &
LAKES

LIVE STORAGE CAPACITY OF RESERVOIRS IN INDIA (CUBIC KM)

CAPACITY RESTORATION OF RESERVOIRS &
LAKES

• The Reservoir of the dam extends to about a few kilometers on the upstream side.
• During monsoon, water flows through the river and gets accumulated in the
Reservoir behind the dam.
• The flow of water brings all types of material such as earthen silt, stones, trees, etc
and this gets deposited behind the body of the dam as the velocity of the water
reduces when it enters into the reservoir.
CAPACITY RESTORATION OF RESERVOIRS &
LAKES

• Thus, over the years, the live storage capacity of the dam starts dwindling
or gets reduced due to the siltation and collection of other materials.

• Siltation of dams results in the reduction of in storage capacity and is a

perennial problem.

• Though dams are designed for a life of 60-100 years, there are examples of
heavy siltation behind the dam within 30 – 40 years, thus reducing their
storage capacities.
CAPACITY RESTORATION OF RESERVOIRS &
LAKES
 CAPACITY RESTORATION OF RESERVOIRS &
LAKES

Annual Rate of Silting (Hecatre/Metres of Silt) per 100 km2 of Catchment Area

Project Assumed siltation rate while dam was built Observed in surveys

Malthon 1.62 13.10

Mayurakshi 3.61 16.43

Ramganga 4.29 18.19

Ghod 3.61 15.24

Beas Unit 2 4.29 14.29

Ukai 1.47 10.95

Narmada 1.55 5.62

Tawa 3.61 11.15

Source: Alvares and Billorey 1987, 69.

CAPACITY RESTORATION OF RESERVOIRS &
LAKES
CAPACITY RESTORATION OF RESERVOIRS &
LAKES
 CAPACITY RESTORATION OF RESERVOIRS &
LAKES

The biggest dams in the India are located in eastern Gujarat and many more are still being planned today. One of the largest and
most controversial is the Ukai dam, (see Figures). It began construction in 1971 and included as net catchment area of 62,225
km2. Unfortunately performance was slowed by siltation. The engineers assumed a siltation rate of 1.47 hectometers/100
km2 of catchment, however the actual rate was ten times that, 14.29 hectometers/100 km2 (Tapas, 1993).

Reservoir at the Ukai Dam 1980 Vegetation Change 1976-1980

This image shows the continuing submergence of areas under water due to large-scale dam projects from 1976-1980.
Dark areas show extreme vegetation loss.
 CAPACITY RESTORATION OF RESERVOIRS &
LAKES

• There are various ways to arrest the deposition of silt by providing small check
dams in the river body. However, still the problem of silt deposition is a great
menace.

• To increase the storage capacity or restore its earlier capacity, one way is to
increase the height of the dam, which may not be feasible from construction point
of view or due to submergence of areas larger behind the dam.
CAPACITY RESTORATION OF RESERVOIRS &
LAKES

• Another option is to remove the silt. We are going to discuss the second
aspect in the further slides.

• For shallow depths (3m to 5m), initial dredging could be carried out either
by clamshell bucket or hydraulic excavator with long arm installed over
ordinary pontoon. The dredged / excavated material is dumped into barges
which are towed to jetty head where these are emptied mechanically only
to be disposed off to the designed areas by tippers. Where permitted
bottom openings barges are employed to dispose off muck on to location of
large depths of water.

• For depths below 5m regular Hydraulic dredging system on catamarine

pontoon is suitable & ideal.

• For deeper depths, a cutter section dredging equipment can be deployed.

CAPACITY RESTORATION OF RESERVOIRS &
LAKES

• Pump and Excavator / Cutter mounted on Hydraulic Excavator for desilting

of shallow depths.
CAPACITY RESTORATION OF RESERVOIRS &
LAKES

SILT REMOVAL BY CLAMSHELL METHOD

• As explained earlier for shallow depths of water a crane attached with

clamshell shall be deployed on floating pontoon.

• The pontoon is to be towed to the desired location by boat.

• The Silt from the bed is removed by the clamshell and dumped on another
pontoon or flat barrages and this silt is taken away to the shore.
CAPACITY RESTORATION OF RESERVOIRS &
LAKES

HYDRAULIC DREDGING SYSTEMS

• Heavy duty submersible pump with attachment of Right
CAPACITY RESTORATION OF RESERVOIRS &
LAKES

HYDRAULIC DRIDGING UNIT

• For deeper depths, a cutter suction pump-dredging unit shall be deployed
on a catamaran pontoon.

Hydraulic dredging unit operating on impounded reservoir of dam for high depths.
CAPACITY RESTORATION OF RESERVOIRS &
LAKES

Hydraulic dredging unit on Loader arm operated by winch on catamarine pantoon.

CAPACITY RESTORATION OF RESERVOIRS &
LAKES

DREDGING APPLICATIONS
 CAPACITY RESTORATION OF RESERVOIRS &
LAKES

DISCHARGE OF THE SILT

Discharge of the silt along with muddy water is transported to the desired area
by providing floating pipes over the Reservoir Lake and further pipe on the
land.

Booster pumps using the same parts as the High concentrated mixture of mud and water being
submersible pumps allowing long pumping distances. pumped to reclaim area.
CAPACITY RESTORATION OF RESERVOIRS &
LAKES

• The silt is then deposited on the selected area by providing a suitable small
check dam and the water is allowed to flow back to the dam reservoir.
Thus the silt gets deposited in the silt pond and can be removed once it is
dried, further, it can be used in barren lands due to its higher fertility value.

• Such silt removal or restoration of reservoir shall be done in one of the

small dams on a pilot project to establish its economic viability.
 CAPACITY RESTORATION OF RESERVOIRS & LAKES

SUGGESTED STEPS FOR THE PILOT PROJECT

• Identification of a small dam with a reservoir where siltation has already taken
place.
• Topographic Survey of the area.
• Identification of the location for Silt deposit pond.
• Geotechnical Investigation of the areas.
• Construction of a small check dam
• Identification of the equipment for silt removal
• Formation of a team to plan and execute the operations.
• Monitor the performance of the system.
CAPACITY RESTORATION OF RESERVOIRS & LAKES

If this experiment is found successful, it can be used for many dams to improve its live
storage capacity and increase its life.
METHOD STATEMENT /
METHODOLOGY

DESILTING METHOD STATEMENT

DESILTING OF RESERVOIRS AND LAKES
• Methodology for complete scheme of Desilting of Reservoirs
impounded by Medium and small dams and Natural Lakes.
1. Survey
2. Civil Works
3. Import of Machineries
4. Fabrication of Pantoon
5. Installation of Machineries on Pantoon
6. Mobilisation of Marine Units
7. Operation of Hydraulic Dredging.
8. Marine Survey and computation of volume dredged
METHOD STATEMENT /
METHODOLOGY

•We shall now describe all above in details.

1. Survey

Once location is decided complete information such as

original depth of Reservoir, Present status and
Surrounding areas will have to be collected from
concerned Department.
METHOD STATEMENT /
METHODOLOGY

Two types of Surveys are envisaged. Topographical and

Investigative. Topographical survey is basically to prepare contour
plan of area where disposal of dredged materials is proposed. It
also establishes special features those need to be taken into account
while planning civil works. Investigative Survey includes taking
bore holes upto original bed levels and ascertain “N” values of
silted layers. Hydraulic dredging units have limitations of
removing silt depending upon Mix proportion of Silt, Sand and
Gravel as also ‘N” values which determines to what extent silt is
consolidated and compacted.
METHOD STATEMENT /
METHODOLOGY

2.Civil Works

Once Survey is complete the scope and Methodology is decided. If

disposal of dredged material is possible on surrounding land a
cofferdam cum weir may have to be constructed at suitable
location. This cofferdam cum weir will allow water to flow over it
back to Reservoir after settlement of dredged material. Later this
dredged silt could be used as manure

In case there is constraint on adjacent land dredged material will

have to be sent down the stream. In this process water loss is
inevitable.
METHOD STATEMENT /
METHODOLOGY

Work harbour construction is necessary to carry out Marine

operation. This platform of required area is constructed at
suitable place where adequate draft of water will always be there
for uninterrupted activities of Marine operation. This platform
should be approachable by motorable land and/or short length
jetty may have to be constructed. A small 5 ton derrick will be
installed over this platform for loading and unloading Machinery
parts and sundry materials
METHOD STATEMENT /
METHODOLOGY

3.Import of Machineries

Hydraulic dredging units comprising heavy duty pumps, cutters,power

pack etc.will have to be imported either from Belgium, Italy, Taiwan or
USA. Already Agencies are identified and correspondence is in progress
with them. We have to furnish them information regarding composition
of Silt, Sand and Gravel of material to be removed. Depending upon
composition, capacities of various units will be decided and only after that
we shall know cost of various equipments. It is expected Foreign
Exchange will be made available for these imports.

Agency will have to depute their Service Engineer for installation of units
and commission the dredger. Cost of such services will have to be paid in
US Dollars.
METHOD STATEMENT /
METHODOLOGY

4.Fabrication of Pantoon

Once the weight and size of Machineries to be installed

over Pantoon is known we can design the pantoon and
accordingly fabricate. Agency for such works are also
identified. Loader Arm, “A” frame, winches,
Generators, 10 inch dia MS pipes, floats and various
marine equipments will be procured in Domestic
market. The responsibility of getting Marine Worthy
certificate for such Pantoon will be on Fabricator.
METHOD STATEMENT /
METHODOLOGY

5. Installation of Machineries on Pantoon

Entire operation of installation of all Machineries,

including imported and Domestically procured, on
Fabricated Pantoon will be done under expert
supervision of Service Engineer of Agency from whom
Hydraulic Dredge units are imported.
METHOD STATEMENT /
METHODOLOGY

6. Mobilisation of Marine units

Small Tugs minimum 2 nos. two service boats,
Required number of Floats and Misc. equipments will
be required to be mobilized to carry out dredging
operation. All these are common items and are
available in Market.
METHOD STATEMENT /
METHODOLOGY

7. Operation of Hydraulic Dredging

This involves 3 operations as under :
a. Pantoon Management
Under senior Marine Superintendent Skilled Khalasis will
manage Pantoon movements.
b. Hydraulic Dredging
We shall get one Marine Forman trained under Service
Engineer from Agency from whom we have imported Dredge
units over a period of minimum one month. He shall then
control Dredging operations.
c. Delivery Pipes on Floats
A. well trained Khalasis team will organize Floated Pipes,
control their movements and attend Disposal end.
METHOD STATEMENT /
METHODOLOGY

8. Marine Survey and Computation of volume dredged

Expert team of Marine Survey well versed with modern

techniques of positioning Marine vessels and Echo Sounding
methods will be deployed. Apart from field activity they shall
also compute dredged volume with latest Computer Software.
Agencies for such works are also identified. They are well
equipped with all latest instruments and experienced
technicians. We shall provide them only suitable boat.
METHOD STATEMENT /
METHODOLOGY

Pricing of all above activities on approximate basis is possible

once Volume of Dredging and Period and cost of Foreign
element is known. Our suggestion for Pilot Project is as under.

A. The Govt. should appoint M/s RSVP Infrastructure Pvt.Ltd.

to prepare feasibility report. Cost estimate for such report
could be given once location and volume of works is known.

B. All activities shall be paid on actual cost plus 30% basis.

METHOD STATEMENT /
METHODOLOGY

While part A is inevitable our suggestion for actual cost plus

basis is justified on the ground there are many hidden costs and
many variables. Once pilot project is completed successfully it
will be possible to give offer on Turn-key basis for future
projects on Dredged volume basis.

Trust we have made complete Methodology clear. We shall be

glad to give clarifications whenever asked.