The research focuses on the various methods that could be used in the laboratory
to determine the values of production from a model cutter suction dredge. The values of
production obtained from different methods are compared to estimate the best value. The
tests were conducted in an attempt to pave the way to find spillage from the cutter
suction dredge. The development of these methods is useful for evaluating the sediment
spillage and residuals during dredging. The more accurate the values of production the
more accurate would be the values of spillage. For this purpose, the laboratory dredge
carriage and dredge/tow tank located at the Haynes Coastal Engineering Laboratory at
Texas A&M University is used. During the summer of 2007 and 2008, the laboratory
dredge carriage was used to dredge sand (d50 = 0.27 mm) in the sediment pit that is 7.6
m (25 feet) long, 3.7 m (12 feet) wide and 1.5 m (5 feet) deep. A laser profiler, a model
hopper barge attached with pressure gauges, a flowmeter and density gauge aid in
determining the production from the laboratory model of the cutter suction dredge were
used. The before and after bathymetry measurements using a laser profiling system are
used to determine the amount of sediment remaining after dredging. The hopper is instrumented with pressure gauges to measure the amount of sediment contained in the
hopper. The laboratory dredge system has a magnetic flowmeter and nuclear density
gauge that provide data to calculate the amount of sand delivered to the hopper. The
difference between the sand volume from the before and after bathymetry is the amount
of sand that is resuspended and subsequently resettles in the dredging area (residual) and
the sand that is not picked up by the dredge (spillage). Many issues in laboratory testing
were found during the course of testing and solutions were found. The production values
are compared with reasoning as to why the differences occur. The results demonstrate
the ability and difficulty of measuring the amount of material that is dredged and the
amount of spillage and residuals that occurs during dredging.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2009-12-7388 |
| Date | 2009 December 1900 |
| Creators | Manikantan, Arun |
| Contributors | Randall, Robert E., Brooks, David A. |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Thesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
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