Introduction :
The development projects in and around metropolitan limits of Calcutta need about 3,000 million bricks annually for which about 200 millions cubic feet agricultural clay are excavated annually whereas the river Hooghly is fast silting up creating a navigational problem for the Calcutta port and the entire navigational channel from Calcutta port to Allahabad. Walter Craven has partly implemented their scheme of de silting the river Hooghly and the canals connected to the river to utilize the excavated silt and sand for production of burnt clay bricks and land development for housing industry.
Since the last few years Walter Craven brick making division is dredging the river Hooghly, in between Uttarpara and Konnagar on regular basis. For the first time in the West Bengal dredged silt is being used as raw materials for burnt clay bricks, hollow blocks etc. being manufactured in mechanized process. The burnt clay products manufactured out of dredged clay are being extensively used not only for the housing industry but also in the steel plants where the specially manufactured products are being used as engineering bricks.
For the dredging – excavation of silt and transportation thereof on the shore Walter Craven is using special purpose self propelled dredgers and burges.
WCI is also off – shore dredging sand on a regular basis and supplying to the different contractors who are using it as land fill. For sand dredging WCI is using both jet and cutter suctions methods and discharging them on the shore for dewatering. The washed river sand are being mechanically loaded on trucks / dumpers on regular basis.
WCI is gearing its infrastructure and equipments to de silt the river Hooghly and fast silting agricultural canals in a large scale in collaboration with Dutch companies specialized in this field.
Walter Craven Ceramic Projects (I) Ltd. (WCI) is prepared to de-silt the river Ganga and utilise the de- silted materials for mecahnised production of bricks, light weight aggregates and allied products.
Supply of de-silted clay to different brick kilns on and around the river to substitute the fertile agricultural clay now being
excavated for brick making.
Utilise the selected de-silted materials as land fill for development of the vast areas to the north – south of Kolkata city for
housing industry.