A .J .

HEBBINK 37

METHODS OF
CANAL MAINTENANCE
IN THE NETHERLANDS

1. 1NTRODUCTION

A canal - however good its design and how careful its construction may be - is
only a semi-permanent structure. Soon after the construction of the canal the
bottom, side-slope, or both may be subject to alterations. In and around canals
the circumstances are favourable for an abundant growth of aquatic plants i.e.
the availability of water, soil, light and often a sufficient supply of nutrients.
Although good sod-forming vegetation should be encouraged on the side slopes
of the canals as it will ward off erosion, certain vegetation will be unwelcome
because it affects the canal functions. Also, the bottom level may change by
sedimentation or scouring or the entire cross-section may change by
deterioration of the side slopes.
All this may reduce the capacity or affect the required water level because of
a reduction of capacity or a change in discharge-level relations. Research has
shown that a discharge capacity can be reduced by more than 25% within one
season.

The maintenance activities can include:

- Removal of aquatic weeds, both from the bottom and the slopes; the so-
called small maintenance operations. These are carried out several times per
year;
- Maintenance and repair of the canal profile, which includes removal of silt
and vegetation (rests), repair of collapsed slopes and maintenance of culverts
and weirs; the so called "large" maintenance operations. These activities are
carried out once in 5 to 25 years, depending on the soil type and the nature
of the area.

For the maintenance of canals several methods are available. A distinction can
be made in mechanical, chemical and biological methods and maintenance with
hand tools. Which method will be used among other things depends on the
function of the canal. A ditch or canal used only for the discharge of water
needs less maintenance than a ditch or canal which also is used for water supply
or level control. In both, however, the wet cross-section must be such, that the
water flow is not hampered.

Furthermore the choice of the method will depend on other physical factors,
38 M"NANCE METHODS

like the type of soil, the land use, the number of canals, the sizes of the canals,
the accessibility of the canals, and the topography.
Today other factors are coming up as well, such as water quality, environment
and nature and landscape conservation. These factors may have a bearing on the
functions to be maintained as well as on the choice of the maintenance
execution. And of course the maintenance costs play an important part in this
respect.

In this paper several of these maintenance methods will be described, as well

as the related criteria, frequencies, and costs, all based on the experience and
conditions in the Dutch Waterboards. Further a distinction is made in the
maintenance of canals in a clay and in a sandy area. Finally some remarks are
made in relation to the developments in canal maintenance and some
conclusions are given.

2. VEGETATION CONTROL METHODS

A turf of sod-forming grasses is an excellent bank vegetation and the best way
to keep it in good shape is to mow it regularly. Mowing can be done either with
appropriate hand tools or with machines. Thé use of hand tools is declining in
favour of machines, but in countries with an abundant and cheap labour force
use of hand tools can be appropriate and efficient.

In general, aquatic plants can be divided into three types: emergent species,
submerged species and floating species:
Emergent plants. These plants have their roots in the soil at the canal bottom
and their foliage above water. As these plants can only grow in shallow
water (less than 1 m deep), their development can be prevented by,creating
greater water depths;
Submerged plants. These plants grow entirely under water. They can occur
even in deep waters, provided that the water is clear enough. These plants
will not survive in canals that periodically fall dry;
Floating aquatic plants. These aquatic plants are similar to submerged plants,
but differs from them in that the leaves are lying flat on the water. Their
comparatively thin stalks scarcely form any obstacle to the flow of water
while their usually large leaves block out most of the light, thus preventing
the growth of other aquatic plants. Free floating aquatic plants thrive in calm
water with little current and no wave movement. Under the influence of
wind and/or current, enormous masses of these plants can accumulate at
narrow spots or near culverts/weirs, where they can be removed.
A .J . HEBBINK 39

In addition filamentous algae can be considered as a fourth category.

Aquatic weeds can be controlled by either cutting (mowing), dredging or

harrowing methods. Cutting leaves a stubble, resulting in a (rapid) regrowth of
the weeds, but the stubble protects the canal bottom against erosion. Dredging
on the other hand removes a proportion of the parts of the plants which are
buried in the mud from the bottom. It is much slower and more costly operation
than cutting. Harrowing tears the plants loose and stirs up the mud, thus
retarding their regrowth. This is not possible in canals with a hard bottom since
the tools cannot penetrate to cut and uproot the plants. When there is a risk of
erosion, aquatic plants should preferably be mown.

Aquatic plants must be cut before they have developed fully and the operation
must be repeated rather frequently. Delaying the operation for too long results
in a low rate of work, while the large quantities of cut material floating in the
canal may block the flow at curves and obstructions.
By cutting the aquatic plants without removing them out of the eco-system the
water is enriched with plant nutrients, which stimulates the growth of weed. So
the cut material should be removed preferably. This results in higher costs, but
the productivity of the soil decreases gradually.

2.1. Vegetation control with hand tools

Till the sixties canal maintenance with hand tools was the most important and
often the only way of maintenance. Because of the rising labour costs and the
disappearance of skilled labourers the manual operation has been replaced by
other maintenance methods. As yet, parts of the canals which can not be
accessed by machines (or boats) will be maintained by hand. It generally
concerns small canals in forests and nature reserves. Such situations, where
there generally is an evident relation between the water management interests
and the ecological, nature and landscape interests, mainly occur in areas with
sandy soils. In the clay soils this relation is far less. This is the reason that
manual maintenance is mainly applied in the sandy soils.

There are special bank-mowing scythes available. These have a blade attached
to a long straight handle without handgrips. The operator walks along the verge
of the ditch and mows the vegetation with swift forward strokes, bringing part
of the cut material up the verge. Sometimes portable small mowing machines
are used.

In fairly wide ditches or canals, weeds can be cut with a chain-scythe. This
40 MAINTENANCE METHODS

consists of a number of cutting blades with flexible connections and two

handles. Two men pull it back and forth over the bottom of the canal. Manual
maintenance has the advantage that no special provisions in the canal have to
be made. So investments in maintenance paths (service road) and/or
standardization of the canal profile are omitted. On the other hand manual
maintenance is more expensive and the work is heavy.

2.2. Vegetation control with mechanical machinery

With growing maintenance requirements and vanishing use of hand tools,

maintenance carried out by mechanical machines has assumed enormous
proportions. Gradually, a wide variety of equipment has been developed, which
seems difficult to oversee at first glance. Photographs of some of the equipment
discussed below can be seen in the paper by Den Herder.

In the first place of course different equipment has been developed for different
purposes, such as for mowing of slopes only, of bottom only, or a combination
of both and for harrowing the bottom vegetation. Secondly, much of this
equipment can be mounted on a tractor, such as various mowers and cutters, but
also for some purposes special equipment has been developed. Further
variations in equipment are related to differences in capacities and sizes for
different soils and canal dimensions.

If the canal is in proper shape, vegetation control with mechanical equipment

is a relatively simple matter. But if side slopes and embankments are not
maintained well, the canals are hardly or not at all accessible for specialized
vegetation control machinery.

An important factor in the development and choice of various equipment is the

accessibility. A canal with a maintenance path has the advantage that it is
always accessible. However, this means investments and a certain loss of arable
land, and on "old" land such provisions do not exist. For example, in the North
East Polder there are many small canals, which are difficult to access, because
no maintenance paths were there. After hand tools were no longer used, farmers
generally did not allow the "strange machinery" pass over their land. And if it
was permitted, it had to be done when no crops where on the land, thus limiting
the applicability.

One alternative was a newly developed, adapted mowing machine supplied with
track chains (of synthetic material), that are moving with one track on each side
of the canal, thus forming a "bridge" over the water. Another solution is the use
A .J . HEBBINK 41

of mowing or sweeping boats, instead of working "from the land", maintenance

is then done "from the water". The disadvantage is that it has to pass
obstructions (bridges, culverts, etc.) in the canal. If there are many of these and
they have not been designed for boat passing, special provisions have to be
made, which can render this method unfeasible.

Wherever it is possible to drive an ordinary tractor alongside the canal, it is

logical to use tractor-mounted equipment. The tractor should have sufficient
weight for good stability. Some of the most applied machinery are:

- The cutterbar. The cutterbar is mainly used for mowing the slopes.
Depending on the size of the canal also a part of the bottom can be mowed.
The cutting mechanism is attached to a tractor machine, with or without a
hydraulic arm. The ordinary type of cutterbar leaves most of the cut material
on the bank, which may cause the vegetation to deteriorate. It is therefore
good practice to rake cut material immediately after mowing. For this reason
several types of mower bar-rake combinations have been developed.
- The rotary mower and the flail mower. Both types of mowers, attached to
a tractor machine, are used for the mowing of the slopes and the mainten-
ance paths alongside the canal. The flail mower pulverises the vegetational
material fine enough to make its subsequent raking unnecessary. Rotary
mowers have the disadvantage that foreign matter easily wraps around the
mowing rotor and they must be very well shielded against detached knives,
stones or other hard objects being thrown up. The flail mower can be
equipped with a bottom rotary cultivator to fraise the bottom at the same
time.
- The bucket-type mower. This is a combination of a cutterbar and an open
bucket in which the vegetational material is collected and removed from the
canal. The mowing bucket is attached to a tractor machine, hydraulic crane
or an excavator. The mowing bucket mows and clears the side slope and the
bottom of the canal in one movement. Besides, a small silt layer can be
removed from the bottom. It can work around trees and similar obstacles
and for smaller canals it needs access from only one side of the canal. As
a disadvantage can be mentioned the relatively low production.
- The mowing boat or sweeping boat. If it is impossible to mow from the
banks, one can use a mowing boat. Vegetation control can be done from
small boats equipped with an underwater cutterbar (mowing boat) or with a
hoeing attachment (sweeping boat). In front of the mowing boat a cutterbar
is attached to cut the aquatic plants on the bottom of the canal. With a
second cutterbar, attached to a hydraulic crane or not, at the same time the
slope can be mowed. The hoeing attachment is a V-shaped knife which
42 MAINTENANCE MEíWODS

penetrates slightly into the mud and moves clock wise to allow the cut
material to rise to the surface and not wrap around the knife. The V-shaped
knife can also be attached to tractor machines.

Apart from scythes and machinery such as tractors and cranes, bucket-type
mowers are the most frequently used tool in The Netherlands, followed by
mower boats and flail mowers. These are followed next by mower bar-rake
combinations and mowing boats. In the paper "Vegetation control equipment in
The Netherlands" by den Herder several of the mentioned machines and
attachments are discussed in more detail.

2.3. Chemical canal maintenance

Controlling aquatic weeds with chemicals involves various aspects to be

considered;
- there are many different kinds of weeds that may occur;
- there is a great variety of location-specific factors, each of which causing its
own problems and requiring its tailor-made solutions;
- there is a wide variety of chemicals and application methods;
- considerations of environment and nature conservation, let alone the personal
safety of the personnel, are gaining more and more attention and put
limitations on the applications.

Each type and even variety of vegetation asks for its specific chemicals to be
treated with. To develop a program for chemical control it is therefore required
to know what types and varieties are most dominant. Moreover, in determining
the types and quantities of chemicals one has to be careful not to "overdo" the
treatment. For instance, a too drastic attack on side slopes may lead to bare
banks which are then likely to erode or collapse.
With all the risks involved in vegetation control by chemicals, it is very
important that strict regulations be laid down for their use. Specifically in
irrigation systems the consequences for men (and cattle) and environment can
be very serious. In any case, the chemicals used in the maintenance of canals
need not be persistent. In the Netherlands use of chemicals has become very
restricted and is only applied under well specified circumstances.

By killing the aquatic plants without removing them out of the eco-system the
water will become enriched with plant nutrients causing excessive growth of
e.g. algae. Continuous application of herbicides may result in a build-up of
organic debris in the bottom of the canal. Furthermore a repeated application
of one and the same herbicide on a certain spot tends to repress the less harmful
A.J. HEBBINK 43

plants while the hard to control species expand their territory

Also, it is useful to consider that designing or remodelling canals can be done

such as to reduce the occurrence of various weeds. For instance, water depths
of more than 1 m retard growth of emergent weeds, periodical setting dry of
canals avoids emergent weeds and planting of trees (shade) along canals can
reduce floating plants.

2.4. Biological canal maintenance

Gradually, canals become a more important element in the conservation of the

aquatic eco-system. This is why in the management and maintenance of canals
more attention is now being paid to their function for nature conservation.
Besides, one became aware of the dangers of environmental pollution from the
use of herbicides and the relatively high costs of weed control with machinery.
Both above reasons lead to increasing attention for and research on application
for biological methods. In general these methods will be applied in combination
with mechanical maintenance or maintenance with hand tools.

The following methods might provide a solution:

- Chinese grass carp. Generally all species of aquatic plants are consumed,
though the grass carp prefers submerged plants. Unfortunately, it will not
propagate outside its natural habitat so that each individual fish must be
imported or made to reproduce itself under artificial conditions. Screens or
gates must be installed in canals or culverts to prevent the grass carp to
escape their "working area".
It has to be taken into account that a certain time must elapse before effects
become obvious. Since over 10 years grass carps are used in The
Netherlands to prevent a high growth rate of aquatic plants. Up to now the
results seems good. It is rather difficult to forecast the efficiency of this
method because it concerns living organism which are strongly affected by
the conditions of the environment. The grass carp has a better chance of
survival in deep water (deeper than 1.0 m). But even when working
satisfactorily, some additional maintenance may be necessary.
- Animals. Goats or sheep can keep down weed growth if they are allowed to
graze on the slopes of the canals and the maintenance paths. The banks must
be firm enough not to be damaged.
- Shade. Suitable trees are planted alongside the canals so that a shadow is
cast over the water. This will reduce the light and repress the growth of
aquatic plants. There must be a certain current in the canal to discharge the
foliage. In other cases additional maintenance is necessary and as result of
44 U h C E N A N C E METHODS

the bad accessibility costly maintenance. A disadvantage is that in the first

few years after planting of the trees additional and costly maintenance is
required.

Another possibility is the use of floating aquatic plants with foliage on the
water. As yet there is not much experience with this method. In combination
with the Chinese grass carps it seems to give good results sofar.

3. SILT REMOVAL AND RESHAPING SIDE SLQPES

Canal functions can be severely affected by deterioration of the side slopes or

by siltation on the canal bottom. Repair of banks and silt removal are costly
operations and it is therefore better to take measures to as much as possible
avoid their necessity.

The risk of the banks collapsing can be reduced by avoiding steep side slopes
and by having the hanks covered with a turf of sod-forming grasses. The root
system of these plants reinforces the soil, and thus helps to prevent erosion. To
prevent collapsing of the banks, special care should be taken not to damage the
bank sods. Reeds and similar plants provide good protection against erosion at
the water level even in shipping canals. The required canal capacity can be
maintained, despite the vegetation, if the section is slightly over-designed.

To reduce the deposition of silt a sediment trap can be constructed in the canal.
The current in the trap is decreased such, that the silt will be deposited. At
regular intervals the stored silt has to be removed, but only locally. The use of
a sediment trap has the advantage that practically no silt has to be removed in
the canal behind the trap. A disadvantage can be that the growth rate of aquatic
plants may increase because of the clearness of the water. This can be prevented
by using relatively deep canals (e.g. more than 1.0 m).

If silt is removed from the canal once a year, this will help to double the
intervals between the more expensive reshaping operations. However, when
reshaping is needed, it can be combined with silt removal. The banks are pre-
cut and the cut material remains in the canal until it is removed together with
the silt.

3.1. Hand tools for reshaping and removing silt

Special hand tools have been developed for removing silt. The digging hoe
A .J . HEBBINK 45

consists of a long straight handle with a specially bent shovel blade. The
dredging fork is used for removing aquatic weeds, and will also be helpful in
stirring up the silt.

If the canals are to be reshaped manually, a special spade or push knife with a
long handle is used. The blade is pushed down along the side slopes at the
proper angle. Hand dredging can easily be mastered but the work is heavy and
the output per man is fairly low.

3.2. Mechanical machinery for reshaping and removing silt

Just like for the vegetation removal, a wide variety of equipment and machinery
is available. Much of desilting and reshaping equipment can at the same time
be used for the removal of vegetation. The following equipment is being used:
- Rear-mounted or side-mounted tractor ditchers. During the work cycle, the
tractor backs up, drops the ditcher into the canal and pulls it cross-wise
through the canal and up against the near bank, bringing the spoil onto the
land. The rear-mounted tractor ditcher works well if the banks are not too
high and their slope not too steep. With a sufficiently large reach, side-
mounted ditchers can work from one side of the canal only.
- Hydraulic excavators. There is an extremely wide range of hydraulic
excavators, equipped with a mowing bucket or a backhoe. The choice
depends largely on the dimensions of the canals and the accessibility (from
one or from both sides).
- Suction dredgers. Especially for the maintenance dredging of silt and
vegetational sediment machines are designed with a milling cutter suction
system. This system uses a pump for transporting the spoil through a
discharge pipeline to a dumping site, which may be situated nearby or at a
considerable distance. Also barges are used to transport the spoil to a
transfer point, where they are emptied by means of a mobile crane.

In the paper by Sperling several of the mentioned machines are discussed in

more detail.

4. MAINTENANCE METHODS USED IN THE NETHERLANDS

Table 1 gives a summary of the methods of canal maintenance used in The

Netherlands. A distinction is made in permanent water-containing canals and
temporarily dry canals. Further a distinction is made in maintenance of the
bottom and of the slopes of the canal. The table is one of the results of a
46 MAINTENANCE MEllyODS

Maintenance Survey and Study program, carried out by the Joint Waterboards
in 1980 and 1985. Overall, the concerned Waterboards covered respectively
over 33,100 km and 32,700 km of permanently water containing canals and
over 9,000 km and 10,300 km of temporarily dry canals in the 1980 and 1985
surveys.

Table 1. Maintenance methods applied in The Netherlands,

as a percentage of the total

Methods
Permanent wet canal

'80 '85 '80 '85

Temporari
sl
'80 '85
--i
I dry canal
bottom
'80
manual 4 2 6 3 10 4 8
mechanical
+ manual 10 8 13 11 15 11 9
mechanical 70 71 66 71 70 74 37
chemical 7 4 11 10 4 10 43
biological O 1 1 2 O 1 O
none 14 3 3 1 O 3
9 - - --
I
I I

x 10*3 km 33 33 9 10

From Table 1 it can be concluded that the use of machines increased, especially
in the maintenance of the bottom of the temporarily dry canals. Around two-
thirds of the canals were cleaned by machines only. Herbicides were applied
mostly to clear the bottom of the canals. Reed was the plant on which most
water boards used herbicides. The total use of herbicides declined enormously
from 1980 to 1985, especially in temporarily dry canals, where there was a
reduction (for bottom cleaning) from 43% to 20%. Biological maintenance
increased, though but still accounts for a small proportion only.
Manual maintenance dropped sharply: some 3% only of the canals were
maintained manually. It is emphasized that the reduction in manual cleaning was
mainly for economical reasons. Of course, where labour is still abundant and
cheap, cutting aquatic weeds with a chain scythe is till a good method.

Some other general remarks on the choice of equipment are the following.
- In permanent wet canals of at least 0.50 m deep and 1S O m wide, machines
fitted to boats can be used to mow or cut the aquatic plants.
- If there is a sufficiently wide maintenance path alongside canals, mowers can
A .J . HEBBINK 47

be mounted to a tractor, crane or excavator. Small tractors can be used if the

maintenance path is at least 1.O m wide, while self-propelled mowers can be
used on maintenance paths at least 0.60 m wide.
- Chemical methods can result in bare banks, thus causing serious erosion
problems. They may also have undesirable consequences for the environ-
ment.
- Biological methods can be used to reduce the quantity of aquatic plants to
an acceptable minimum, but quite some experiments are required to find
appropriate solutions.
- Where erosion constitutes a problem,,aquatic plants should be mown or cut
and not harrowed.
- Removal of vegetation, taken from the canal, is increasingly constituting a
problem, asking for extra equipment and costs.

Maintenance begins with a programme indicating which canals will be

maintained, when and how. The main source of information for this programme
will be a system of monitoring of the canals in order to assess the problems and
the changes taking place in the vegetation. Based on these observations
measures to cope with imminent outbursts of vegetation will have to be taken
in due time before the situation has culminated in an emergency requiring
drastic and usually costly operations.

The maintenance programme should include the applied method@) for each
canal or location, the maintenance frequency, the machinery which should be
applied and the period@) in which maintenance has to be carried out.

5. FREQUENCY OF MAINTENANCE OPERATIONS

The aforementioned Waterboard survey made clear that the costs of canal
maintenance is mainly determined by the frequency of maintenance. Substantial
reductions in total costs can only be achieved by working out the optimal
frequency. The required frequency is determined by various factors.
- The growth rate of the vegetation. This may vary both from time to time and
from one area to another. Also the quality of the water (chloride content,
eutrophication), the water depth, shade etc, are important;
- The function of the canal. A canal used for the discharge of water only,
needs less maintenance than a canal which is also used for water supply;
- The size of the canal. A big canal with a large catchment area is maintained
more frequently than small canals;
48 MAINlENANCE METHODS
- Land use of the bordering area (if there are no maintenance paths). If the
accessibility of the canal is hampered (cultivation of crops) the frequency of
maintenance is limited;
- The Waterboard. There are also differences in the maintenance methods and
frequencies among Waterboards, depending on their policies and
preferences.

Both bank vegetation and aquatic plants need to be removed frequently. Exactly
how often will depend on the type and rate of plant growth and local conditions.
Table 2 provides data on frequencies of canal maintenance as a percentage of
the total in The Netherlands, based on the earlier mentioned survey of 1985.

Table 2. Frequency of canal maintenance

as a percentage of the total

Times/ Permanent Temporarily I Maint

year wet canals paths
slope bottom
1 40 33 1
2 33 31 40
3 18 14 45
>3 2 7 12
cont. 7 15 2

The table shows that, of the overall length of the permanent water-containing
canals about one third was treated once a year, one third twice and one third
three times or more or continuously. Some polder boards used mower and
sweep boats to keep a substantial part or the whole length of their canals clean
on a continuous basis. The temporarily dry canals were cleaned once a year in
half the cases and twice in the other half.
Maintenance paths were present along 25% of the canals and they are mainly
found in the sandy areas. Over 90% of the canals had a maintenance path at
both sides. No maintenance paths were found alongside the canals in the South-
Western clay areas. As result of the salty conditions here, the growth rate of the
aquatic plants is less and thus also the maintenance frequency; in general once
per year only. The maintenance paths had generally been constructed to make
maintenance cheaper and less time-consuming and to reduce the amount of
manual labour. The inventory showed that most maintenance paths were mowed
two to three times a year.
A .J . HEBBINK 49

For canals which were treated only once a year, this maintenance was
concentrated in the period September to November; the start of the wet season
in The Netherlands. If maintenance work was done twice this fell in the months
June/July and September/October.

6 . MAINTENANCE IN CLAY AND SANDY AREAS

The above information gives general consideration on the maintenance practices

in the Netherlands. Of course variations exist over the country, depending on
the specific local conditions. One aspect affecting the maintenance practices is
the soil type. To illustrate the consequences, here some differences are outlined
between maintenance in the clay areas and that in the sandy areas of the
country. The clay soils are found mostly in the Northern and Western part of
The Netherlands and the sandy soils are mainly found in the Eastern and
Southern part.

6.1. General conditions in clay and sand areas

The following general characteristics in both areas account for the differences
in maintenance practices.
- Clay soils have generally a good load bearing capacity. Under wet condi-
tions there is a rapid deterioration of the soil structure, however. Sandy soils
have a good load bearing capacity, and with appropriate slopes there is less
deterioration;
- Side slopes in the clay areas can be steeper, they vary from 1:l to 1:1.5.
(for the maintenance and for stability new or reshaped canals have a slope
of 1: 1 3 , against between 1 : 1.5 and 1:2 in sandy areas;
- Particularly in arable land the ground water table in the clay areas is deep
so that relatively long slopes have to be maintained. In sandy areas there is
a wide variation in water depths with more canals having smaller depths.
- In clay areas maintenance paths are found in 5% of the cases only, against
in about 50% of the cases in sandy areas.
- In sandy areas there is less growth of aquatic weeds as result of the
generally higher flow velocities.

6.2. Summary of maintenance practices

Table 3 gives a summary of maintenance characteristics in both areas. Again

these data are based on the results of the earlier mentioned Waterboard survey.
50 ~ ~
IU~INTENANCEM E W O D S
~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~ ~~ ~ ~~~~~

Table 3. Methods of canal maintenance in the clay and

sandy areas as a percentage of their total

Permanent wet canal Temporaril

slope I bottom sl bottom
Methods clay -
- sand -
clay
manual O 6 O
mechanical
+ manual 1 13 1
mechanical 84 71 96
chemical 15 9 3
biological O 1 O
none
I I
- -- O O
I
O

In the sandy areas there is generally a more evident relationship between the
water management interests and the ecological, nature and landscape interests
than in clay areas. That is the reason that manual maintenance is mainly applied
in the sandy regions. Mowing and sweeping boats are the most frequently used
machinery in the clay areas, followed by bucket-type mowers, circle and flail
mowers and finally by cutterbar and mower bar-rake combinations. In the sandy
areas there is a more or less equal application of the various machinery, with
a slight preference for the bucket-type, circle and flail mowers.

In the clay areas the chloride content of the water is high compared with the
sandy areas. As a result the vegetation growth is less. Thus the canals in clay
soils are less frequently maintained than the canais in sandy soils. In the clay
areas the temporarily dry canals were mainly cleaned once per year, in the
sandy areas mainly twice a year.
In both clay and sandy areas use of the mowing bucket delays the necessity for
A .J . HEBBINK 51

the large maintenance operations, resulting in frequencies of once in 5 to 10

years in clay areas and once in 15 to 25 years in the sandy areas.

7. CONCLUSIONS

Over the past three to four decades, developments in maintenance techniques

and equipment in The Netherlands have been rather fast. Technical
advancements were used to meet increasing requirements of costs, efficiencies,
capacities, fuel consumption, mobility, specific problems, etc. A few examples
of such new requirements are summarized below, with some references to the
Indian situation, as far as possible from our position.

Till recently, most of the Waterboards did not dispose of the mowed vegetation,
but spread it out on the slope or the maintenance path or tipped it onto the
bordering land. In some cases the wet material was usually piled up near
duckweed fences and collected and disposed of from there. Because of
ecological, nature and landscape considerations, there is now a tendency to
transport the mowed vegetation in favour of the attenuation of the soil. As a
result the growth rate of the plants will decrease and a greater variety of species
with a low growth rate will develop. The maintenance frequency may become
less.
As soon as the maintenance intensity in India will increase this problem of
disposal of vegetation may arise as well. Particularly the fact that the farmers’
lands are often close to the canals, and there is little free space left in many
places, may require to find solutions for removal.

Besides the water transport function, the landscape and the environmental values
of canals play a very important role in the choice of the maintenance method.
Because of this, use of herbicides has decreased enormously, and is still
decreasing. Investments are being made for the development and purchase of
machine and tools to replace herbicides and for the construction of maintenance
paths or even service roads. Chemicals are still being used, mainly to destroy
reed, because a good alternative have not yet been found.

Again, this aspect may be taken serious in the Indian situation. When
developing efforts for intensified maintenance, it is very tempting to apply the
seemingly effective chemical means. The lessons from Europe, where these
practices had to be redressed, sometimes after having experienced clear
detrimental effects, may well benefit India in avoiding such experiences.
52 M A I N E N A N C E METHODS

There is a tendency in The Netherlands towards increasing biological mainten-

ance. The grass carp is the most frequently applied method of biological
maintenance. For the environment this method is very attractive and the risk of
insufficient discharge of water is highly restricted, because most of the plants
are consumed.

Although manual maintenance has decreased enormously as a result of the high

costs and the lack of skilled labourers, it may still be necessary in certain
circumstances, for instance at inaccessible places or for environmental reasons.
In India, manual maintenance will certainly remain important in the near future.
Clear criteria should therefore be set on where to use manual labour and where
and when to resort to mechanical means.

The requirements resulting from water management considerations may

sometimes be in conflict with those from nature and landscape conservation,
also with respect to the frequency. To satisfy both it may be possible to
regularly clear the bottom only and reduce the maintenance of the slopes.

In addition to environmental and financial considerations, some practical and

design aspects can affect the maintenance practices. Planting trees alongside the
canal may have positive effects, for instance. Also, it is possible to apply a
combination of maintenance methods. For example the use of grass carps with
floating aquatic plants or pìanting trees at one side of the canal in combination
with mechanical maintenance from the other side.
Another aspect concerns the depth of the canal. By using greater water depths
the growth of aquatic plants will be reduced and the maintenance frequency may
be less. Also it can be considered to give the canals dimensions larger than
strictly necessary. But in India the depth-width ratios should also take into
account the requirements derived from the stable channel design (regime
theory). With larger depths it often occurs that the silt layer on the bottom of
a canal is not removed sufficiently. A regular removal of both aquatic weeds
and a small silt layer attenuates the soil; the growth rate of the plants will be
reduced.

The frequency of canal maintenance may vary from one canal to another.
Decisive factors are the growth rate of the vegetation, the function and the sizes
of the canal and the land use of the bordering area. More and more a distinction
is made in the maintenance of the canals below and above the water level. To
guarantee the water supply in a certain area it may be useful to increase the
maintenance frequency of the bottom of the supply canal or ditch. This is called
preventive mowing. The advantage of a high frequency is that it strongly
A .J . HEBBINK 53

reduces the necessity to remove the biomass of the bottom (small quantity) and
the traditional way of maintenance of the canal may be reduced (for example
two times instead of three times).

The presence of maintenance paths have the following advantages: relatively

lower maintenance costs; the canals are always accessible and can be maintained
at any time and the chances of destruction of the banks are less. The higher the
maintenance frequency, the more it will be cost saving. As disadvantages can
be mentioned the loss of land and the investments which have to be made to
construct the maintenance paths.

Finally it may be evident that there is not one method applicable to all types of
weed problems. It is, therefore more efficient to apply an integrated
maintenance programme. This programme can comprise manual, mechanical,
biological and chemical methods such as to minimize costs and damage to the
environment. Such an integrated programme cannot be established right away,
but need to be developed over the years, using local specific experience as feed
back. It would be useful to implement one or more pilot projects in different
circumstances in India, to assess the above aspects of maintenance paths and
design implications and to develop the best packages of methods and
frequencies.