Flooding and silt removal are hotly debated topics at the moment, with large areas of the UK suffering the effects of horrendous weather, and the cost to business, home owners and farmers mounting.
As weather patterns are changing and we have more prolonged periods of wet weather to contend with, managing the water is becoming more critical than ever with the argument for dredging rivers to increase their capacity becoming stronger.
While there is a lot more to be thought about than simply dealing with the water at low levels (for example finding ways to slow the progress of water from upstream, and planting more trees to absorb more of the rainfall) the capacity of lakes and rivers in the lowlands is still a major issue.
Over time, lakes, ponds and rivers become shallower due to the build-up of silt caused by run off from surrounding land as well as the decomposing of natural materials e.g. leaves, or aquatic vegetation. Eventually this will have a negative impact on the quality of the aquatic environment. Not only that, but during periods of heavy rainfall, with a diminished capacity in these bodies of water, the surrounding areas are at risk from flooding.
In order to minimise or prevent this, maintenance of lakes, ponds, streams and rivers is essential. Keeping aquatic vegetation under control goes some way towards this, cutting and removing excess material will help keep waterways as clear as possible and also reduce some of the silt build-up.
However if it’s decided to restore full capacity to the water body, then dredging or pumping of silt is required, and an effective means of doing this in water up to 2 metres deep is using lightweight amphibious vehicles, such as the Truxor.
The Truxor is small enough to be towed by a 4×4 vehicle, is lightweight and exerts minimal ground pressure which means sensitive areas such as golf courses, nature reserves and river banks are not damaged. It is a highly manoeuvrable machine that can turn on its own axis in water and is capable of working in the tightest and most challenging of aquatic environments and with the wide range of attachments it can be transformed from a reed cutter, to a collector, to an excavator or silt pump in the blink of an eye.
To see more on how Aquatic Solutions use Truxor machines to help pump, excavate and recycle silt, take a look here.
To read about successful silt removal from a lake to help reduce flooding, see this case study.
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