Patent ID: 6837655

Claim:
A method for bypassing the flow of water in an earthen canal to isolate and line a distinct section of the canal, the method comprising the steps of: (a) forming at least two portable modular sections, each section being assembled from at least one generally vertical wall and at least one gate, the gate being attached to the wall; (b) submersing and installing the at least two portable modular sections at individual predetermined locations in the canal to form two bulkheads, an upstream bulkhead which bifurcates the canal upstream of the section to be isolated and a downstream bulkhead which bifurcates the canal downstream of the section to be isolated; (c) attaching a plurality of pipelines between the two bulkheads such that the at least one pipeline extends from the upstream bulkhead to the downstream bulkhead; (d) operating the gates, whereby the flow of water is diverted into at least one of the pipelines, thereby bypassing the section to be lined; (e) lining the section to be lined, to form a newly lined section; (f) after the section is lined, operating the gates to divert the flow of water into the newly lined section; and (g) removing the bulkheads and pipelines from the newly lined section.