Resear cher & Coordinator, Canal Reseach & Development, japan

농업수리시설과 소수로굴착용 Trencher V형의 개발에 대하여

One of most important problems in the Monsoon Asia today is the production of rice paddy to meet the needs of the ever increasing population. Diversemeans are being employed to meet this demand, both by increasing productivity of existing farm land and by bringing further areas into cultivation. The primary step in either field is to ensure that there is sufficient moisture in the soil to suit the paddy, and at the same this means that excess moisture has to be drained off the land, while in others irrigat ion has to be employed to bring sufficient water to an area. In view of the fact that the project comprises a huge amount of earthwork, it can be carried out by extensive use of construction machinery in order to shorten the period. As farm ditch has a comparatively small section with shallow cutting depth, inaddition, there is lack of access road in the field, the excavation equipment with bulldozer or tracter-shovel (backhoe) type are not applicable because there are mostly adapted for the excavation of deep and wide section. Mini-backhoe with its bucket width not larger than 0. 3m, and width of blade not larger than 1. 00m seems to be more adaptable. About 80% of excavation of ditch section will be done by the machinery while the other 20% of excavation together with the finishing of the section are supposed to be done by man-power. The embankment of ditch section can be compacted by the crawler of backhoe when it is moving along the ditch for excavation. However, Lowland paddy field in the Monsoon Asia are made particulary in rain season, therefore, heavy machinery is not easy excavation for ditch. It is very important to know exact ground support power of the working site and select machines with corresponding ground pressure. Ground support power is variable subject to quality and water content of soil and therefore selection of machines should be made duly considering ground condition of the site at the time of construction works. Farm ditches dug and compacted by mannual labar are of poor quality and subject to destruction after one or two years of operation. On the other hand, excavation and compaction by bulldozer is not practical for ditches. Backboe is suitable for slope land, but this is required cycle time of bucket excavation and dumped out. If a small-scale farm ditch trencher adaptable to lowland paddy field is invented, such a machine could greatly accelerate the massive construction work envisaged in many countries and thus significantly speed up the most difficult part of irrigation development and management in Monsoon Asia.