VEGITATION DREDGING

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VEGITATIONDREDGING
As lakes and other waterways experience an increase in nitrogen levels from fertilizer runoff or high
nutrient levels vegetation can start to appear in mass quantities and result in a state of eutrophication.
This process results in a decline in oxygen and the eventual death of the local fish and wildlife
population that depend on the lake to sustain life.
In other cases, invasive vegetation species can make it into rivers and other water bodies when
foreign vessels introduce seedlings. In these cases constant removal of the vegetation is required to
slow down re-generation and protect fragile ecosystems from harmful chemical solutions which are
not proven to eradicate the invasive plants.
IMS holds the patent for the WeedMaster cutterhead which is the only cutterhead in the world proven
to effectively cut and pump rooted, floating and emergent vegetation types from 6 in. (152mm) tall to
12 ft. (3.7m) tall. The WeedMaster bolts directly to the dredge ladder in place of the standard
SolidsMaster Cutterhead which is used for sand and sediment removal. The WeedMaster turns the
Versi-Dredge into a hydraulic weed harvesting machine that can cut and pump hyacinths, milfoil,
cattails, reeds and other vegetation and pump it up to 3,280 ft. (1km) distance to shore.
Most weed harvesters cut the weeds down to a max depth of 6 ft. (1.8m) and store them in a hopper
which must be periodically emptied on shore. This requires unloading barges or pier / shore
conveyors which increase labor and diesel fuel costs. The Weedmaster® is much more efficient
because it chops the weeds into 3-5 inch (76-127mm) pieces and pumps them to the shore, up to
1km away, using the dredge pump.
Estimated Vegetation Removal:
The WeedMaster® cutterhead will operate differently in every application. Unlike dredging sand or
mud there is no uniformity in cutting vegetation. There are different densities, different stem
circumferences, and depending on the season different fiber strengths. All of these factors must be
taken into consideration when using the WeedMaster® cutterhead.
IMS has put together the following estimates based on customer feedback from the field. These
estimates are conservative and are for extremely dense vegetation. IMS estimates that you will
achieve between 1-2.5 acres of production per day (more with floating vegetation like water
hyacinths).
Floating Vegetation (Hyacinths):
•
Equipment Utilized:
o IMS Versi-Dredge®
o IMS Weedmaster® Cutterhead
o IMS Weed Rake Feeder Attachment
o IMS Winglet Impeller
•
Duration: 1 hours time
•
Surface Area Cleared: 202.5 m2/hr.+
•
Height of Vegetation: 0.3 meters
Dense Rooted Vegetation (Grasses, Cattails, Reeds, etc.):
•
Equipment Utilized:
o IMS Versi-Dredge®
o IMS Weedmaster® Cutterhead
o IMS Winglet Impeller
•
Duration: 1 hours time
•
Surface Area Cleared: 50-100 m2/hr.+ depending on stalk thickness, root mass, and depth at
which the vegetation sits in the mud.
•
Height of Vegetation: 1m – 3m
CaseStudies
• Angola–WACUKUNGO
• IMSAquaticWeedHarvesterDestroyingTotoraInLagunadeColta,Ecuador
• IMSWeedmaster:AdvancedVegetationRemovalTechnology
• USNationalParkToutsSuccessofIMSVersi-Dredge®inRestoringCanoeTrail
• Weedmaster(patentpending)MeetsChallengeofWeed-ChokedLakesin
Mexico
Photos
Ecuador:AModel5012LPVersi-Dredgewith
patentedWeedMastercutterheadcutsandpumps
rootedcattailsfromLagunadeColtainEcuador.
Angola:AModel5012LPVersi-Dredgewithpatented
WeedMastercutsapaththroughdensevegetationon
theWacuKungoirrigationcanal.
Zambia:AModel5012LPVersi-Dredgewithpatented Angola:AModel5012LPVersi-Dredgewithpatented
WeedMastercutterheaddredgesdensevegetationon WeedMastercutterheaddredgesadensewallof
theKafuRiverinZambia.
vegetationintheWacuKungocanal.
Canada:Acontractorusesa5012LPVersi-Dredge
withWeedMastercutterheadtoremoveinvasive
vegetationfromBurnabyLake,aformerOlympic
rowingcenter.
Ecuador:AdamoperatorinEcuadorusesa
WeedMastertocleanhyacinthsfromahydropower
dam.TheVersi-Dredgewasselectedovermanytypes
ofvegetationremovalsystemsinaglobaltender.
Thailand:AModel5012LPVersi-Dredgewith
WeedMastercutterheadandWeedRakeremovea
denselayerofhyacinthsfromalakeinThailand.
USA:AModel5012LPVersi-Dredgeremoves
vegetationandsiltfromacanoecanaltrailataUS
NationalPark.
USA:AVersi-DredgeusestheWeedMasterand
BroadcastertocleanhyacinthsfromGatorSloughin
CapeCoral,FL.
Videos
• USAVegetationDredging:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQdnl3Gh36U
• USAVegetationDredging:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MRuLaweXxc
• EcuadorVegetationDredging:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkh1XNUFepw
• EcuadorVegetationDredging:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5DDEHwWsOM
• MexicoVegetationDredging:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c6I_2meCcs
• ZambiaVegetationDredging:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHtQESt8-CY
• MexicoVegetationDredging:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_Cf5rbOhlA
• USAVegetationDredging:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAQkxw0OkXE