Microdredging systems comprising a pumping platform and loading platform are described. In certain embodiments, system operates autonomously and is adapted to allow the loading platform undock from the pumping platform for disposal of the removed sediment.

A piece of submarine mining equipment comprises an equipment body, a plurality of adaptive submarine mining collectors and respective mineral delivery pipes. The equipment body and the adaptive submarine mining collectors are connected through the mineral delivery pipes. The lengths, stretching out of the equipment body, of the mineral delivery pipes can be adjusted under control. The adaptive submarine mining collectors are provided with tracked traveling mechanisms and can autonomously travel under control. An underwater detector is used for detecting the submarine topography and mineral distribution in the vicinity of an operation area, and the traveling path of the submarine mining collectors and a mineral storage vehicle is reasonably planned according to detected information. The multiple adaptive submarine mining collectors simultaneously and independently work and are made light and small, thus reducing damage of mining operations to the submarine ecological environment. The equipment body can travel along flat submarine paths and avoid rough paths. Horizontal vortexes induced by the mining collectors can enhance the mining effect and improve the collecting power under unit power consumption so that fewer water pumps with smaller sizes can be configured, and the mining collectors have a smaller principle dimension, thereby greatly reducing energy consumption and being more environmentally friendly.

Hydro excavation vacuum apparatus that process spoil material onboard the apparatus by separating water from the cut earthen material are disclosed.

Hydro excavation vacuum apparatus that process spoil material onboard the apparatus by separating water from the cut earthen material are disclosed.

A system and a method for vacuum excavation of local transmission are provided. The system for vacuum excavation of local transmission may include an end effector coupled to a vacuum hose. The end effector may include a manifold coupled to one or more valves and one or more pipes, each coupled to one of the one or more valves. The excavator head may include a nozzle array coupled to the one or more pipes, wherein the nozzle array may include one or more nozzles, each coupled to one of the one or more pipes. The one or more valves may be controlled to actuate individually, as a subset, or collectively, thus changing an air pattern exhausted from the nozzles.

A rotatable hydro excavation suction wand includes an upper section having an upper end configured to be connected to a suction hose, an angled lower section secured to a lower end of the upper portion and the angled lower section having an open end, and a rotary manifold connecting the upper section to the angled lower section and configured to rotate the angled lower section as the upper section remains fixed. The suction wand also includes a pressurized line coupled to the rotary manifold, where the angled lower section is adapted to rotate causing the open end to track in a circular motion covering an area larger than a diameter of the suction wand.

In some embodiments, a system may include a harvesting unit configured to operate under water to traverse and extract gas from clathrate hydrate deposits. The harvesting unit can include a housing defining an enclosure at least partially open along a bottom portion to receive a clathrate slurry associated with a selected one of the clathrate hydrate deposits. The harvesting unit may further include a separator chamber within the housing defining a negative pressure and configured to receive the clathrate slurry and a skirt coupled to the enclosure adjacent to the bottom portion and configured to form a flexible barrier between the enclosure and an external environment. The skirt may be formed from a plurality of elements configured to allow fluid flow therethrough.

The present invention relates to apparatuses, methods, and systems for removing sediment from waterway bottoms and pumping the sediment through pipelines. More particularly, the present invention relates to apparatuses, methods, and systems for sediment control and altering the average effective depth in a section of rivers, streams and channels for maintaining the navigability of waterways and coastal restoration. The apparatus and method of the present invention including a means for preventing and removing blockages of water flow in the pipelines.

A dredge system for attachment to a vehicle, the dredge system includes a hopper, a mixer and a pump. The hopper has an internal area and is configured to feed material into the internal area of the hopper. The mixer is coupled to the hopper and configured to shear the material in the internal area of the hopper. The pump is coupled to the hopper and is configured to pump the sheared material through a discharge outlet.

Hydro excavation vacuum apparatus that process spoil material onboard the apparatus by separating water from the cut earthen material are disclosed.