Equipment for Dredging, Trenching,

Drag line and clamshells

Presented by
A GEORGE FERNANDEZ
RAJ
ME-CEM
 Dredging
It is an excavation activity or operation usually
carried out at least partly underwater in shallow seas or
fresh water area.
Main Purpose:
•For gathering up bottom sediments and disposing of
them at a different location .
•It is also used to replenish sand on some public beaches
where sand has been lost due to coastal erosion.
•It is used for fishing for certain species of edible clams
and crabs.
Dredger
Dredger is a machine or vessel that is used to excavate
and remove material from the bottom of a body of water.

• It is an operation in navigation canals,harbours,dams etc

• since clamshells and draglines can not perform
excavation standing on one bank ,dredger are very
effective for this purpose.
 Types of dredger

The various types of dredgers are

 Dipper Dredger
 Ladder Dredger
 Suction Dredger
 Dipper dredger
•It is mounted on a floating platform.
•It is stablized by means of a pair of spuds held firm into
the water during the operation of digging.
•The boom of the dredger can swing through an angle of
180° to deposit the excavated matarial either on the bank
or an floating barge.
•Dredgers upto 12.5 m³ bucket size and 30m dumping
range and capable of digging to adepth of about 15 to
18m under water are available.
DIPPER DREDGER
 Ladder dredger
•Ladder dredger equipped with bucket elevator is
mounted on a barge.
•This bucket elevator used for digging and lifting is
supported on a steel ladder which can be extended to the
river bed.
•Bucket while moving dig in to the bottom of the river
bed loads travel up and dump into a hopper on the top of
the elevator.
•From the hopper this excavated material is conveyed to
the bank or to another barge through a conveyor.
•This type of dredger is suitable for excavating soft
ground, sand or gravel.
Line diagram of bucket ladder
Ladder dredger machine
 Suction dredger
•A cutter suction dredger is a stationary or self-
propelled vessel that uses a rotating cutter head to
loosen the material in the bed ‘cutting’.
•A suction inlet located beneath the cutter head
known as the suction mouth is connected by a suction
tube directly to one or more centrifugal pumps.
•The vacuum force at the suction inlet sucks up the
loosened material. The suction tube and cutter head
are attached to a ladder. The ladder with cutter head is
positioned at the fore of the vessel.
Suction dredger
Digging deep selecting and using dredgers
Dreadging is simply removing material from beneath the
surface of water either to get rid of it.
For example:
•When opening a channel during canal or water way
construction
•To recover it for the reclamation of new land for mining or the
production of concrete aggregate.

Equipments for moving wet earth

•Mechanical Dredgers
•Hydraulic and Pneumatic dredgers
 Mechanical dredgers

These dredgers raise and transport material

mechanically
They may be bucket dredgers, dipper and backhoe
dredgers, grab dredgers and rock breakers
Hydraulic and pneumatic dredgers

Hydraulic Dredgers utilize the principle of the

centrifugal pump.
This shows that water is always used as a carrier of
the solids
Profile Dredgers
•Suction pipe is connected to the dredge pump and
suspended by a simple gantry.
•The sand is drawn by the suction of the pump and
pumped ashore or discharged into barges
•Suction pipe baring between 250mm and 800mm dia.
Cutter suction dredger:
Here a ladder is suspended from a well inside the
pontoon and the suction pipe connected to the dredge
pump and passes through the ladder.
TRENCHING
 Trenching
•A trencher is a piece of construction equipment used to
dig trenches, especially for laying pipes or cables for
installing drainage or in preparation for trench warfare.
•Trenchers may range in size from walk-behind models, to
attachments for a skid loader or tractor, to very heavy
tracked heavy equipment.
Trenching machines are capable of digging in any type of soil
except soil and provide.
 Fast digging
 Positive control of depth and width of trenches.
 Reduce expensive ‘Hand finishing’ to minimum
 Types of trenching machine
• Wheel type trencher
• Ladder type trencher
• Chain trencher
• Micro trencher
• Portable trencher
• Tractor mounted trencher
 Wheel type trencher
•A wheel trencher or rock wheel is composed of a toothed metal
wheel.
•It is cheaper to operate and maintain than chain-type trenchers.
•It can work in hard or soft soils
•This is particularly true because a cutting wheel works by
clearing the soil as a bucket-wheel does, rather than like a rasp
(chain trencher).
•This can be used for providing depth upto 3 meters and width
ranging from 0.3 to 0.6 m.
•They are also used to cut pavement for road maintenance and to
gain access to utilities under roads.
 Ladder type trencher
• This consists of a telescopic ladder or boom.
• The excavating parts of machine consists of two endless
chains which travel along the boom to which are attached
cutter buckets equipped with teeth.
• As the bucket up underside the boom they bring out earth
and deposit it on belt conveyor which discharges it on either
side of the trench.
• This machine can be used for excavations upto depth of 10
meters and a width of 3 meters.
• This machine is not suitable for muddy and rocky soil.
 Chain trencher
•A chain trencher cuts with a digging chain or belt that is driven
around a rounded metal frame, or boom. It resembles a
giant chainsaw
•This type of trencher can cut ground that is too hard to cut with
a bucket-type excavator , and can also cut narrow and deep
trenches.
•The angle of the boom can be adjusted to control the depth of
the cut. To cut a trench, the boom is held at a fixed angle while
the machine creeps slowly.
•The chain trencher is used for digging wider trenches
(telecommunication, electricity, drainage, water, gas,
sanitation, etc.) especially in rural areas.
•The excavated materials can be removed by conveyor belt
reversible either on the right or on the left side.
 Micro trencher

A micro trencher is a "small rock wheel" specially

designed for work in urban area. It is fitted with a cutting
wheel that cuts a micro trench with smaller dimensions
than can be achieved with conventional trench digging
equipment.
Micro trench widths range from about 30 to 130 mm (1.2
to 5.1 in) with a depth of 500 mm (20 in) or less. These
machines are sometimes radio-controlled.
 Portable Trencher
•Landscapers and lawn care specialist may use a portable
trencher to install landscape edging and irrigation lines.
• These machines are lightweight (around 200 pounds) and are
easily maneuverable compared to other types of trenchers.
•The cutting implement may be a chain or a blade similar to a
rotary lawn mower blade oriented so that it rotates in a vertical
plane.
 Tractor mount trencher

A tractor mount trencher is a trenching device which needs

a creeping gear tractor to operate.
This type of trenchers is another type of chain trencher.
The tractor should be able to go as slowly as the trencher's
trenching speed.
Advantages of using trencher
 It is faster and a cheaper method trenching
 It digs only as much as is necessary
 It is continuous process and is not like that
of back hoe excavator
DRAG LINE
 Dragline
•The prominent operation of the machine is dragging the
bucket against the material to be dug it is named as Dragline.
•Long light boom of the dragline allows it to dig and dump
over longer distance as compared to a power shovel or a hoe.
•This is used to excavate earth and load it into hauling units
such as trucks , tractor pulled wagons or deposit on banks,
dams etc
•Power shovel up to capacity of 1.9 cu .m can be converted
into dragline by replacing the boom of the shovel with a
crane boom .
Operation of a dragline

•The bucket is lowered in fully dumped position

releasing both the hoist and drag cable till it rests
on the ground with the teeth digging into the
earth.

•The hoist cable is slackened slightly and then

the drag pull is applied.

•The action fill the earth and the bucket takes a

horizontal position.
•When the required dumping height is attained the
boom is swung to the position of dumping and the
drag brake is released.
•This will dump the load off the bucket.
•The boom is then swung back to the digging
position and the same cycle of operation are
repeated.
Draglines has different types of buckets
Light
Medium
Heavy
Light:
These are suitable for loose , dry soils sand and
gravel.
Medium:
These are used for clays and compacted gravel etc
where bucket teeth penetrates with difficulty.
Heavy:
These buckets are used for handling hard materials
Suggestion for dragline operations:
 Keep the bucket teeth sharp and built upto
the proper size
 Dig in layers not in ditches
 Keep digging surface sloped up towards
shovel
 Pick up bucket as soon as it is full
 Do not swing until bucket or load is clear of
the ground as boom may get twisted
 keep the truck in the pit for loading as this
increases the production by 10%
Dragline Production
Dragline production = Dragline capacity x
Cxf
where
C = Theoretical cycles /hr =120 cycles/hr
f = Correcting factor
= f1 x f 2 x f3 x f4 x f4 x f5 x f6 x f7

Example problem…..Refer book pg no72

Factors affecting the output
• Balance of bucket
• Width of bucket
• Height of bucket
• Number and angle of teeth
• Type of material
• Depth of cut
• Angle of swing
• Size and type of bucket
• Management condition
• Skill capacitor
Advantages of draglines
 Useful when earth is to be removed from ditch or canal
or pit containing water as trucks wont have to go into
mud.
 Dragline with longs booms are helpful when earth is to
be deposited on banks or dams, eliminating need of
hauling unit
 Draglines are excellent for excavating trenches without
shoring.
Disadvantages:
It has lesser output as compared to shovel of same
capacity
CLAMSHELL
Clamshells:
The machine is named as clamshell due to
look of its bucket to a clam which is like a
shell-fish hinged double shell.
The front end is essentially a crane boom
with a specially designed bucket closely
attached at the end through cables as in a drag
line.
CAPACITY OF THE CLAMSHELL BUCKET
Water level capacity
Water level capacity is the capacity of the bucket if it
was hung level and filled with water
Plate level capacity
Plate line capacity indicates the capacity of bucket
following a line along the top of the clams.
Heaped capacity
Heaped capacity is the capacity of bucket when it is
filled to the maximum angle of response for the given
material.(45º)
 Operation of clamshell
 The clamshell bucket is brought over the location
where the material is to be dug.
 The bucket is lowered with the shells open till a
good contact is made with the ground.
 The bucket shells are closed in through the
closing line.
 As the two shells close in the weight of the
bucket enable it to dig into the material thereby
filling it.
 It is then hoisted and swung to the position of
dumping and the contents are dumped.
Applications of clamshell
1. They are commonly used for handling
loose material such as crushed
stone,sand,gravel,coal,etc..
2. The main feature of clamshell is the
vertical lifting of material from one
location to another
3. Clamshells are mainly used for removing
material from coffer dams, sewer man
holes,well foundation etc..
Line
diagram
for
clamshell
bucket
Hydraulic clamshell bucket
ROPE GRAPPLE CLAMSHELL BUCKET
Single
line
clamshell
bucket