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 dams, dikes, and other controls for streams and shorelines; and recovering valuable mineral deposits or marine life having commercial value. In all but a few situations the excavation is undertaken by a specialist floating plant, known as a dredger.
Excavator dredger in Neeme harbour, Estonia (April 2023)
Reconstruction of the mud-drag by Leonardo da Vinci (Manuscript E, folio 75 v.)
Reconstruction of the mud-drag
The dredge drag head of a suction dredge barge on the Vistula River in Warsaw, Poland
A body of water, such as a river, canal or lake, is navigable if it is deep, wide and calm enough for a water vessel to pass safely. Navigability is also referred to in the broader context of a body of water having sufficient under keel clearance for a vessel.
Navigation markers, entrance of Fremantle harbour and the Swan River, Western Australia
Sunset on the Intracoastal Waterway
Port of Bratislava (Slovakia) at night