Dewatering System Solves Emergency Need
2011
When Freese and Nichols was tasked by the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) to design a spillway gate dewatering system at Buchanan Dam, the design team had a few unique requirements to take into account. The existing concrete structure did not have any acceptable sealing surfaces for a conventional stoplog system, and LCRA wanted the system to be deployable in an emergency such as loss or failure of a spillway gate.
After researching various dewatering systems, the team proposed an innovative design integrating a curved steel track mounted to a vertical concrete pier with a series of hollow steel stoplogs that travel along the track during deployment. The concept moves much like a garage door passing along tracks. The bottom of the structure is sealed along the dam’s existing concrete, eliminating additional modifications to the dam crest. Each stoplog is stacked and pinned in the gate bay, and each section is sealed using a rubber flap seal to prevent flows between logs and reduce hydraulic forces on the system. The result is a system of stoplogs that can individually support the entire system.
LCRA’s dewatering system is a unique tainter gate dewatering system suitable for emergency use. The design eliminates draining the reservoir down to crest level in the event of gate failure.
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