Frequently Asked Questions

Golf courses use dredges to remove the muck from the ponds on courses.  Maintaining a sufficient depth of water (3 to 4 feet) can help limit aquatic weed growth and gives a great look from the shoreline.  Dredging can occur while the pond is full or it can be drained to dig it out. 

Dredging is the solution to removing the silt or muck out of your pond.  Silt can be dug out of the pond with an excavator or it can be pumped out with a dredge.  Planning for the disposal of the silt is key as it will be sloppy, wet, and difficult to deal with. 

Raw water intakes along rivers and streams can clog during large flooding events or over time.  Bar screens and travelling screens can prevent certain debris from entering the stilling well, but over time logs, sticks, and sediment may clog the intake.  Debris can be cleaned with an excavator is access is available.  Cleaning can also be done manually by hand but this can be a tedious process.  Another option for fine sediment clogging the intake is using a hand-operated dredge with diver-assistance.  Sediment can be removed from the front on an intake and from within the stilling well or between the screens. 

A sediment survey or bathymetric survey can help determine the amount of sediment within a lake.  Surveys involved finding the top of sediment and the bottom with a probe to determine the sediment depth in a particular location.  That location can be used to determine an area to calculate a volume.  Sediment is typically measured in cubic yards.  Sludge is usually measured in dry tons.

If your driveway is muddy and holds water after a rain, it may be time that you need to add gravel.  Adding gravel can help you shed rain from the driveway into the ditch quickly.  Maintaining your driveway with gravel over time can help prevent more expense with grading in the future. 

The USACE has different field offices for different watersheds. You can look online to figure out what office regulates your watershed and call or email for information. 

There are a lot of products that claim to get rid of silt or muck from the bottom of your lake or pond.  Some products attempt to resuspend the silt.  Some attempt to re-aerate the silt.  Some products try to decompose it.  However, most silt removal is very limited with these techniques.  Dredging is a proven solution to removing silt from your lake or pond.  Dredging can be done by digging the silt out or pumping the silt from the lake or pond. 

Be sure that your mound is in the right position and stable.  Add mound clay to the table and slope of the mound.  Check the height and slope as you install the clay.  Use a hand tamp (good for maintenance) or plate compactor (better) to compact the clay with a minimum depth of 4 inches.  Mound clay in bulk, loose material is easier to form than mound bricks. 

Measure the square feet of the garden space that you need to incorporate compost into the soil.  Adding compost to an existing garden can improve your soil tilth, improve water retention, and nutrient availability.  Using our calculator, input the dimensions of the garden including 2 inches of compost as a depth.  Once you have the compost that you need on-site spread it evenly across the top of the garden prior to planting (usually in the fall or before spring).  Till the compost into the top 3 to 6 inches of soil using a tiller or by hand with a steel rake or hoe.  Plant your garden and watch it grow!

Geotextile tubes are made from a permeable woven fabric that allows you to pump a slurry, or mixture, of water and muck into the bag.  The bag then allows the water to pass out of the bag through small holes but retains the muck, silt, or sludge within the bag.  Clean effluent or filtrate (the water that comes out) can be collected and returned to the source.