in2Dredging Pty Ltd has just announced the successful completion of Water Injection Dredging (WID) trials at the Port of Melbourne. The trials were conducted under the expert supervision of in2Dredging and were executed by the contractor, Polaris Marine Group.
This approach harnesses the power of gravity to transport sediment without generating a carbon footprint. It thus offers an environmentally friendly solution for maintaining navigable waterways.
The WID process effectively loosened the sediment and diluted it sufficiently for dispersal into the surrounding environment.
“ We used our Estimator for Water Injection Dredger (E 4 WID) tool to model the dilution process. This tool calculates the necessary dilution to reduce the sediment cloud’s density sufficiently to enable gravity to overcome the yield stress and disperse the sediment over a wide area ,” said Simon Burgmans , Director & Principal Dredging Consultant at in2Dredging.
Notably, the dispersed material did not accumulate in the nearby Yarra River Channel, confirming the effectiveness of this dredging solution.
Within a short period, a considerable volume of sediment was removed with minimal disruption to shipping traffic.