The excavated channel from the yacht and powerboat harbour had gradually silted in over the last two decades. Suspended solids from the principle lake tributary Golf Course Creek that flows under Highway 11A, and those that migrate around the lake in the water column driven by wind and wave action, reduced the depth so that keelboats could not leave or enter the harbour without grounding.
A contractor with experience in removing sediment from municipal sewage lagoons with a floating dredge re-contoured the channel out into the lake.
The mined sediment was pipelined cross-country to a porous geotextile bag at the corner of the Points West property on the south side of 11A. The solids settled in the bag and excess filtered lake water was returned to the lake.
The dredge was hauled out for road transport.
See the cutting bar, slurry pump, and onboard diesel power supply, and all the steps in the operation in this photo album.
Close-ups of the dredge show the cutting bar, the slurry pump intake, the onboard diesel engine for the pump and drive, the floating pipeline, the geotextile curtain suspended below buoyancy around the perimeter of the working area, and the cross-country pipeline transport of the dredged slurry.
Sylvan Lake Watershed Stewardship Society 