Marine Dredging with EcoTubes™

Sludge dewatering tubes have been used to contain and dewater dredged materials from river channels and harbors for decades. They have been successfully used to dewater fine-grained, contaminated material containing dioxins, PCBs, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, pesticides, and other hydrophobic materials.

In particular, advances in the use and application of polymers and chemical conditioning agents have increased the viability of geotextile tubes in dredging of lagoons, rivers, lakes and marinas.

Hydraulic dredging typically requires constructing a spoil area. The space required for this may be very limited or not exist at all. And spoil areas can be environmentally unfriendly and pose some hazards. Additionally, sludge dewatering tubes dewater faster than open-air disposal pits. So, with a sludge dewatering tube, your options increase: marina parking lots, the dam of a sludge lagoon or an open area near a local park or golf course suddenly come into play.

The most common method of utilizing the geotextile tube with dredged materials is by filling it hydraulically with a water/soil mixture using a cutter head and suction dredge delivery line. Typically, the effluent can be returned to the waterway after passing over a grassy swale or through silt fence. However, large amounts of water may cause erosion in the dewatering area. As such, covering the area with a plastic sheet before deploying the geotextile tubes may be a good idea.

US Fabrics’ EcoTubes™ come in a variety of sizes to fit different sized drying beds. In space limited sites, sludge dewatering tubes offer a cost-effective, safe and efficient alternative to traditional marine dewatering methods.