Patent Publication Number: US-4647250-A

Title: Canadian flexible dams

Description:
The present invention deals with massive flexible dams for relatively deep water bodies and high waterhead courses of water, using a combination of: 
     High tensile strength, cross reinforced, flexible, impermeable, inextensible plate (referred to hereafter as flexible wall and abbreviated as FW) specially designed and fitted to be installed strip by strip on the job site. 
     An anchoring system to anchor the lower edge of the flexible wall tightly and firmly to the waterbed. 
     Used ships, destined for retirement, adjusted and fitted to be anchored and to support the flexible wall by means of ties connected to independent motorized equipment mounted inside the ships. 
     Cable beams to support the back of the flexible wall and break the span of the flexible wall in between the waterbed and the surface of the water, which cable beams transfer their loads through the flexible wall to anchoring and supporting ties upstream. 
     A spring-like flexible connection to tie the upper edges of the flexible wall to the used ships. 
     Independent motorized systems fastened inside the ships and connected to the ties transferring the loads from the upper edges of the flexible wall. 
     Independent motorized systems fastened inside the ships and connected to the ties tying the ships to their anchoring sites. The role of the motorized systems is to adjust to the water level and the snow pressure on the dam. 
     An anchoring concrete platform anchored to the waterbed through piles driven in the waterbed and anchored to the tubular channel holding the lower edge of the flexible wall by means of reinforcing rods welded to said channel. 
     Flexible spouts connected to openings made in the flexible wall about the height of the low water level, used to discharge the water into electric generating turbines mounted on secondary vessels stationed at the low water side. 
     A sediment flushing out system through tunnels beginning upstream ahead of the anchoring lines and extending downstream beyond the flexible wall. 
     A set of specially designed accessories to tie the different components of the dam to each other. 
     A flexible design applicable to shallow and deep water dams where no previous methods could apply, taken into consideration: 
     A--The question of reducing the collossal size of the dams to a featherweight, flexible membrane. 
     B--An installation design allowing the erection of the flexible wall step by step on the dam site. 
     C--The question of easy anchoring, repair and replacement of the flexible wall. 
     D--Recycling of very valuable used ships destined for retirement. 
     E--Reducing the dam construction time to one tenth of the time needed for conventional dams. 
     F--And the most important of all, reducing the overall cost of the dams to less than one tenth of the original cost of the conventional dams known till now. 
    
    
     DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 shows a plan view of the dam. 
     FIG. 2 shows a cross section of the dam shown in FIG. 1. 
     FIG. 3 shows the connection of the top edge of the flexible wall to the supporting vessels. 
     FIGS. 4 and 4A show shows the anchoring system of the lower edge of the flexible wall to the waterbed. 
     FIGS. 5-5F shows the reinforcement and the splicing of the flexible wall. 
     NOTE: Nos. in circles represent group of pieces and are referred to as elements. 
    
    
     DETAILS 
     The present invention named hereafter Canadian flexible dams and abbreviated as CFD, deals with large, deep water, flexible dams for relatively deep water bodies and high waterhead water courses using a combination of: 
     High tensile strength, cross reinforced, flexible, impermeable, inextensible plate made of fabric, rubber or rubberized material or the like. 
     The flexible wall consists of reinforced longitudinal strips like those used for conveyor belts, redesigned with cross reinforcement, where the reinforcement is left protruding with forms of loops and zigzags (See FIG. 5, No.9) to allow for joint splicing all along the strips by inserting wire cables consecutively through the adjacent loops of the strips to be joined (See FIG. 5, No. 7) moreover these loops of the adjacent strips are tied together with special ties, a fact which makes the joint strong and firm developing the same strength of the plate itself and by applying the rubberized flexible compound the joint would be watertight as well, the same as the main part of the flexible plate. 
     This design of the flexible plate allows us to install the flexible wall on the dam site gradually in sections strip by strip which fact makes possible the erection of dams with limitless length without having the handicap of transporting the whole flexible wall from the factory to the site of the dam. 
     Using in combination a curvaceous tube imbedded and anchored to the concrete platform on the waterbed. (See FIG. 4, Det. 8). 
     The lower edge of the flexible wall is inserted through the curvaceous tube and locked in tightly by means of longitudinal blocks wedged together to interlock and squeeze tightly and firmly the flexible wall inside the tube. 
     The lower end of the flexible wall is inserted inside the tube and folded around longitudinal blocks and fastened around them to prevent the slippage of the flexible wall in between the walls of the tube and the longitudinal blocks. (See FIG. 4, Det. D8, FIG. 5, Det. D). 
     In certain cases, the lower tip end of the flexible wall is rolled over, and inserted in between the longitudinal blocks installed inside the longitudinal tube, and when these blocks interlock with each other, they squeeze the end of the flexible wall in between them and prevent it from slipping away (See FIG. 4). 
     Using in conjunction, used ships, (See FIG. 1, Element 3) used barges and used watergoing vessels of any kind that had served their time or had paid back their capital investment and are destined for retirement for their inefficient internal equipment but that they could still deliver safely their floating capacity. The choice of such ships that are usually destined for scrap is the intersection of different points of consideration: economical, technical, availability, applicability, etc., which, in combination with the specially designed flexible wall (See FIG. 5), the supporting cable beams on the back of the flexible wall and the other related features, makes it possible the breakthrough from the existing toy size flexible dams to the present giant dams that the present invention applies for to replace the conventional solid dams used up till now. 
     These used ships could be open ships and do not have to be closed floating bodies as the previous inventions called for nor inflated as the previous inventions called for. 
     These used vessels are used to support the upper edges of the flexible wall, connected to them at different levels through a series of pulleys and cables passing through the vessels and fastened to equipment inside the vessels. 
     These used ships transfer the loads, applied to them from the flexible wall, to the anchoring cables connected to them at different levels on the opposite side of the flexible wall, (See FIG. 2), which cables extend upstream to their anchoring points on the waterbed or on other fixed points upstream. 
     The used ships are lined longitudinally one next to the other on the high water side inside the flexible wall and all along the dam. 
     The ships are tied to each other along the length with heavy wire cables keeping them slightly staggered and with a fixed spacing and some compressible separators in between the edges of the ships to prevent and minimize collision (See FIG. 1). 
     The edges of the decks of the ships receiving the loads from the flexible wall and the opposite edges receiving the anchoring cables are provided with longitudinal blocks all along the decks of the ships to distribute the loads applied to them from the flexible wall and from the anchoring cables. (See. FIG. 1). 
     Using in combination supporting cable beams (See FIG. 1, Element 17) on the back of the flexible wall at different distances in between the waterbed and the surface of the water; to break the span of the flexible wall in between the waterbed and the surface of the water. 
     These cables play the role of reversed beams supporting the back of the flexible wall. The cables transfer the loads applied to them from the flexible wall to anchoring cables connected to them, through the flexible wall, with special connections. 
     Some of the anchoring cables (See FIG. 2, Element 5), extend directly upstream to anchoring points on the waterbed or on other fixed points upstream, while other anchoring cables, extend upstream to be connected to the decks of additional vessels, stationed upstream on the high water level; in turn, the additional vessels are anchored upstream in the same way as the main vessels V1. (See FIG. 2). 
     The supporting cables are made flat cables to enlarge the bearing area of the cable and reduce the concentrated stress on the back of the flexible wall. 
     Using in combination springlike flexible systems to transfer the stresses at different levels from the top edges of the flexible wall to the ships (See FIG. 1, FIG. 3, det. D5) consisting of wide clamps, No. 9, clamping the top edges of the flexible wall, No. 12, which is rolled over a wire rope, No. 10, that is covered with sections of solid pipes, No. 11, to enlarge the overall diameter clamped by said clamps whose jaws are bolted also to each other through the flexible wall. 
     The upper end of the clamps is provided with a pulley supported by continuous cable, No. 7, which cable is itself supported by another pulley mounted on double beam structure, No. 5, which beam is attached itself to another cable, No. 4, that is carried by the block of pulleys, No. 3, that is hanging down from the header cable, No. 2, and the header cable No. 2 is supported by a block of pulleys suspended from cable No. 15, (See FIG. 3) which ties the whole system to the ships. The cables No. 15 pass through watertight holes provided at different levels on the outer walls of the ships, facing the flexible wall, then cables 15 pass over bearing drums mounted on the edges of decks inside the ships, (See FIG. 1, Element 9), and continue inside the vessels to be fastened to independently operated motorized drums fastened inside the said vessels. 
     The role of the system connecting the top edges of the flexible wall to the ships is to prevent excessive concentrated loads from splitting off the top edge of the flexible wall; in such a way that if there is a high pressure on one edge of the flexible wall the cable No. 7 is pulled longer towards that high pressure area and shorter where the pressure is lower until the pressure equalizes along the top edge of the flexible wall. 
     The cable No. 4 plays the same role by allowing the beam No. 5 to tilt towards the high pressure area. The combination of cables No. 4 and No. 7 with the sets of pulleys connecting to them result in a spring like action to protect the top edge of the flexible wall from splitting under excessive concentrated loads. 
     The role of the solid dual beams, No. 5, is to keep the top edge of the flexible wall close to the straight line and preventing it from excessive folding which fact could cause the breakage of the cable No. 10, and eventually the splitting of the top edge of the flexible wall. 
     Using in combination independently operated motorized systems fastened inside the vessels and connected to the ties like No. 15 (FIG. 3) transferring the loads from the upper edges of the flexible wall to said motorized systems. 
     The role of these motorized systems is to move the flexible wall to and from the vessels. 
     The position of the flexible wall with reference to the vessels needs to be adjusted when the water level in the dam changes up or down. 
     Using in combination independently operated motorized systems fastened inside the vessels, connected to the anchoring ties like Element 4, See FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, tying the vessels to their anchoring sites. 
     The role of these motorized systems is to move the vessels to and from their anchoring sites. 
     The position of the vessels with reference to their anchoring sites had to be adjusted when the water level in the dam rises or goes down. At the same time, when solid ice accumulates in front of the vessels, the anchoring ties have to be released and this can be done through the motorized systems. 
     (See FIG. 4) Using in combination an anchoring system binding the curvaceous tube, holding the lower end of the flexible wall, to the concrete platform and to the waterbed by using reinforcing steel bars welded to the curvaceous tube system and rooting down through a concrete platform cast at the surface of the waterbed. 
     The concrete platform cast at the surface of the waterbed is itself anchored to the waterbed through: 
     A--Concrete piles driven in the waterbed and with their upper reinforcement left protruding through the concrete platform. 
     B--Wooden piles driven in the waterbed and provided at their upper end with transversal holes through which reinforcing steel bars are passed through and left protruding out through the concrete platform to serve as anchorage between the piles and the concrete platform itself. 
     Providing in combination holes in the flexible wall at about the level of the low water surface, which holes are connected to flexible spouts, Element 23, extending downstream beyond the flexible wall on the low water area. 
     These spouts are used to discharge the water from the high water level through the flexible wall to electric generating turbines, Element 25, mounted on secondary vessels, Element 24, stationed on the low water side. 
     The flexible spouts are supported on a pivoting structure connected from one side to the spouts and resting on a mobile mechanism that rolls over the decks of the secondary ships, Element 24, to allow free movement of the said ships when the low water level changes up or down. 
     Using in conjunction a sediment flushing out system through closed tunnels, Element 20, at the surface of the waterbed, beginning upstream ahead of the ties anchoring sites and extending downstream to discharge the sediments somewhere downstream beyond the flexible wall. 
     The flushing out system is provided with a kind of screen in front of the tunnels consisting of piles, driven into the waterbed and protruding up for a distance above the waterbed. Their role is to prevent heavy rocks and debris from blocking the mouth of the tunnels. 
     The tunnels are provided with locks, at the beginning of the tunnels to allow opening and closing the wter through the tunnels. 
     Providing in combination a series of accessories, especially designed clamps and connectors to make the tie in between the different parts of the dam. 
     A fitted combination insuring at the same time; 
     A flexible dam design adaptable to any kind of dams in order to replace the methods used up till now with the conventional construction methods, flexible or solid, for dams even deeper than what it was possible with the existing methods and to dams with unlimited length. 
     An easy way of construction and on site joining the parts and erecting the flexible wall strip by strip in a way that insures the full strength of the plate all along the joints. This solution makes it possible the construction of dams with limitless length without having the impossible inconvenience to have the flexible wall joined in the workship and transported in one unit to the site of the dam. Add to that, an easy way of repair and replacement, pulling out and re-anchoring the flexible wall to the waterbed. 
     A large overall saving in money and time that the present invention realizes over all the patents existing till now. 
     Points to be considered: 
     When the water level in the dam falls down, the buoyants fall down with the water, and having the same length of ties tying them to their anchoring sites, they will move downstream allowing the flexible wall to bulge out like an apron carrying the water of the dam and transferring its weight to the buoyants which fact could drown the buoyants. 
     To avoid this unnecessary stress on the flexible wall, the ties and the buoyants, the buoyants should be pulled upstream until the apron shape formed by the flexible wall disappears and the flexible wall would take the shape of a blanket cover over the water of the dam. In this case, the anchoring line on the waterbed of the lower end of the flexible wall would be positioned downstream beyond the line of projection of the top edges of the flexible wall on the waterbed and also beyond the line of projection of any cable beam, supporting the back of the flexible wall on the waterbed. 
     Joining the strips to form the flexible wall; 
     Splices should be 200% as strong as the main part of the strips forming the flexible wall, to insure double margin of safety. 
     Special hardware should be fastened inside the protruding loops, used to splice the strips of the flexible wall, to prevent excessive folding or flattening of the said loops, which fact causes the wires of the loops to break. 
     The wire ropes or the cords joining the adjacent loops, coming from the adjacent strips, is to be inserted and reinserted and interwoven with the loops and through the hardware installed inside the loops, to avoid slackening and pulling out of the joining wire. 
     Apart form the cords inserted through the loops, the adjacent loops should be tied together with special connectors insuring the transfer of 100% of the strength of the loops in between each other.