page_title: Roller dam
section_title: Use
hierarchical_section_title: Roller dam / Use
caption_attribution_description: Aerial View of Lock and Dam 15, Mississippi River, Rock Island Illinois. Rock Island District Office is also located here.
context_page_description: A Roller dam is a type of hydro-control device specially designed to mitigate erosion. They are most often used to divert water for irrigation but the largest and most notable examples are used to ease river navigation. The world's first roller dam was constructed in Schweinfurt, Germany in 1902 to divert irrigation water south of the Main river.
context_section_description: Roller dams are a type of weir, or a dam that is designed to allow water to flow over the top in continuous action. They are used on rivers or other such moving bodies of water where erosion damage is undesirable, yet likely to occur. A short wall, lip, or parabolic channel is constructed on the downstream side of the dam parallel to the dam face. As the water pouring over the dam hits this baffle, it is reflected toward the dam face, creating a continual "rolling" action at the foot of the dam; hence the name "Roller Dam". The purpose of the rolling is to dissipate the energy gained by the water as it falls from the top of the dam. Otherwise the energy would be exerted downstream, causing significant bank and river bed erosion.
  Roller dams can be either fixed (non-moving) or active. Fixed roller dams are generally made from reinforced concrete or masonry. Active roller dams are made from large metal cylinders, which can be lifted out of the water using a system of powerful hydraulic rams or cables and motors. This type is also known as a roller gate. The largest of the active dams in the world is Locks and Dam 15, which spans the Mississippi River between Rock Island, Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa.
caption: Roller gates of Mississippi River Lock and Dam No. 15, the largest roller dam in the world.[1]
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