Sedimentation is a naturally occurring process where silt, sand and other debris accumulate on the bottom of rivers, lakes, canals or streams over time. An excessive build-up of sediment can cause a series of issues. Dredges are specialized pieces of equipment that create a vacuum to suck up and pump out the unwanted sediment and debris. Send us feedback about these examples.Table Of Contents – Easily Jump To What You’re Looking For:ĭredging means the process of removing accumulated sediment from the bottom or banks of bodies of water, including rivers, lakes or streams. These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dredger.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 6 June 2023 The 75 families who lived on Tatuoca island began to question the benefits of the port complex expansion in 2009 when a dredger began scooping up chunks of the seabed to accommodate big ships. Amy Brady, Scientific American, 20 June 2023 Chuan Hong 68 was built in 2014, and is described as a grab dredger, or a ship that uses a large claw to remove items from the ocean floor. 2021 First came the dredgers, the scientists who dragged giant shovels behind sailing ships and picked through the biological rubble. Vivian Yee New York Times, Star Tribune, 27 Mar. Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 9 June 2023 Several dredgers, including a specialized suction dredger that can extract 2,000 cubic meters of material per hour, were digging around the vessel's bow, which is wedged into the canal's eastern bank. William Booth, Washington Post, 24 July 2023 But recently, Beijing laid claim to 90 percent of the 1.3 million square-mile sea, and has used dredgers to expand dozens of islets and shoals, fortifying them with anti-ship and anti-air missiles, and military-grade airfields. 2023 All this was happening in the narrow confines of navigable waterways busy with commercial traffic, as container ships, sand dredgers, tug boats and ferries made their way through the race. 2023 Dotted along the shoreline are dredgers completing work to add artificial sand, groynes, jetties and breakwaters to prevent further coastal erosion. Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 18 Aug.

Noun China has expanded several islands in the South China Sea, using dredgers and cement machines to not only broaden the size of islets, but build permanent features like seawalls, airfields, and buildings.

Dredge means