Overall, the dredging work of the cutter suction dredger is to clean sediment over an area in a fan shape. The dredger is equipped with two lateral winches. During operation, it first clears the area around the cutter, then starts one lateral winch to rotate the cutter and its large arm to one side for sediment removal. Once this side is completed, the other lateral winch is activated to rotate the dredger to the opposite side, clearing the sediment on that side.

After the dredging is completed, the entire area is shaped like a fan. The cutter suction dredger is then moved forward to clean the next fan-shaped area, which is the general working condition of the cutter suction dredger. When cleaning silt, other components of the cutter suction dredger are needed to work in tandem. The cutter churns up the silt at the riverbed, while the mud pump simultaneously extracts a mixture of water and silt to a certain proportion into the pump, and then it is discharged to the shore through pipes.