New Method for Dredging Hard-to-Access Lagoons

By Sean Burgess - seanb@landings.org
Interim Public Works Director

It’s no surprise to those residents living around any of the 151 lagoons located throughout the community that sediment can start to build up in certain areas of the lagoons over time. Each year, staff evaluate the lagoons to determine which ones require dredge operations to remove this material.

Conventional dredging operations can be complex, based on the amount of heavy equipment required (excavator and dump trucks), along with the associated mobilization and restoration costs due to the limited access provided around the lagoons. Access has long since been a concern for some lagoons in the community (including disruptions of play for the golf courses and irrigation systems) and as a result, some lagoons never have been dredged since their original development by Branigar.

Over the years, staff continued to explore various dredging operations, but were unable to identify the most effective way to access these hard to reach areas. However, we never stopped researching viable options and consulting with other communities on how best to resolve the dredging obstacles some of our lagoons continued to pose.

Staff recently discovered a new technique through Estate Management. This hydraulic dredging included one dredge pump where material from the lagoon basin is pumped into two 20’ x 40’ bags through two ports (each bag can collect 40 cubic yards of material). Once the material is pumped into the bags, each bag requires two-to-three weeks of dwell time to allow the water to drain. Afterwards, the material is moved from the location, and the area where the bags existed is restored. Staff contracted Estate Management to conduct this dredging operation in the following lagoons in April: Lagoon 15A (Bartram Road behind Galphin Lane), Lagoon 7 (Landings Way North near the TLCo Sales Office), and Lagoon 3 (Landings Way North end).

When this new method was discussed in The Landings Association’s monthly Public Works Committee meeting, long-standing community member and former engineer Bill Foster stated that this method was “an effective and innovative way to remove the significant sediment build up in lagoons which have been problem areas since their installation more than 40 years ago”.

Landings Association staff continue to refine our maintenance processes and explore options to preserve the beautiful assets within the community!



This article was originally published by The Landings Association on their website.

Visit landings.org to read the original article.
https://landings.org/news/2019/05/07/new-method-dredging-hard-access-lagoons