An amphibious excavator (or pontoon excavator or floating excavator) is a type of
excavator
Excavators are heavy construction equipment consisting of a boom, dipper (or stick), bucket and cab on a rotating platform known as the "house". The house sits atop an undercarriage with tracks or wheels. They are a natural progression fro ...
that can perform dredging while afloat on soft terrain such as swamp, wet land, and shallow water. An
amphibious
Amphibious means able to use either land or water. In particular it may refer to:
Animals
* Amphibian, a vertebrate animal of the class Amphibia (many of which live on land and breed in water)
* Amphibious caterpillar
* Amphibious fish, a fish ...
excavator is better adapted for removing silty clay, clearing silted trenches, swampland operation, and shallow water operation than traditional barge-mounted
dredgers.
Walking and working
The amphibious excavator can walk or work in water, because the
chassis
A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...
crawler floats on sealed
pontoons. It may swing or even roll over when excavating with no support underneath.
It moves using a dual-body boat form
buoyancy tank
A ballast tank is a compartment within a boat, ship or other floating structure that holds water, which is used as ballast to provide hydrostatic stability for a vessel, to reduce or control buoyancy, as in a submarine, to correct trim or list, ...
. A reducer drives the crawler chain, allowing free and smooth movement. Its upper structure is a modified excavator that allows 360° full rotation and hydraulic operation.
Sealed pontoon
The pontoons are manufactured from
high tension steel and they are
atmospheric corrosion
An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A s ...
- and saltwater-resistant. Each pontoon has 5 independent water tight compartments with maintenance holes. The bottoms of the pontoons are reinforced for rough terrain operation. The power for the pontoon tracks is provided by an excavator engine and main
hydraulic pump
Hydraulic pumps are used in hydraulic drive systems and can be hydrostatic or hydrodynamic. A hydraulic pump is a mechanical source of power that converts mechanical power into hydraulic energy ( hydrostatic energy i.e. flow, pressure). It generat ...
s with traveling
motors.
Accessories
*Side pontoon—increase flotation
*
Piling vibrator
*Excavation bucket
*
Clamshell
*
Demolition
Demolition (also known as razing, cartage, and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down of buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a ...
sorting grab
*
Dredging
Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...
pump
See also
*
Crawler excavator
Excavators are heavy construction equipment consisting of a boom, dipper (or stick), bucket and cab on a rotating platform known as the "house". The house sits atop an undercarriage with tracks or wheels. They are a natural progression fro ...
References
External links
{{Commons category-inline
Excavators
Amphibious vehicles