Salix provides expertise and equipment for desilting ponds, lakes and reservoirs.
Environmentally sound dredging solutions
Our integrated approach ensures that we can provide a range of environmentally sound and cost effective solutions for the management, reuse and disposal of sediment.
We operate a range of technical plant and equipment, including dredge pump, floating excavator or low ground pressure plant for dewatered environments.
We have developed methodology to suit the most sensitive sites ensuring the protection of water quality and features of ecological interest.
Restoring balance
Over time, material builds up in water bodies – washed in from rivers and streams, dying vegetation and waste from fish, water birds.
This material eventually starts to have unhealthy consequences, with the lake or pond becoming eutrophic and stagnant in places.
By dredging the silt, balance is restored and biodiversity is increased.
Often the silt can be managed and re-used within the water body to create wetland habitats like reed beds and islands using native plants from our nursery.
If the silt has to be removed altogether, it becomes subject to waste regulations and must be disposed according to legal guidelines enforced by the Environment Agency. If the silt is not polluted, it can sometimes be spread across agricultural land.
Survey the scene
We offer comprehensive environmental support and advice across all silt removal projects. Services include sediment characterisation, regulatory liaison, licencing, ecological surveying, monitoring and where suitable, habitat enhancements.
Salix experts will first survey the lake or pond to establish the depth and analyse the composition of the silt. We then work with our clients to create a management plan to improve the lake environment and its biodiversity.
For example, at Midhurst we worked with the South Downs National Park Authority to carry out a series of environmental improvements on the South Pond, including de-silting some areas and establishing new reed beds in others.
At London’s East Reservoir, we’ve helped the London Wildlife Trust to create a new nature reserve – Woodberry Wetlands – by dredging material from the bottom of the lake and using it to create a series of wildlife islands and reed beds.
Dredging machinery
Salix deploys a range of lake desilting machinery and techniques, suitable for many types of environment.
Our floating dredgers move silt ashore or to other parts of the lake using underwater pumps. Excavators on floating platforms can be used to dig silt and waste and put it into barges or ashore for removal.
Pump dredging was used at Woodberry Wetlands to create new islands. Our Truxor amphibious machine has a wide range of applications, including pump dredging and silt removal.
At Ifield Mill Pond, a Site of Nature Conservation Importance, our Truxor was deployed, together with a floating excavator, to remove over 13,000m3 of silt from the South Pond.
