Rubber dams are flexible air-filled or water-filled membranes that are attached to concrete foundations to raise upstream water levels when inflated. They are made of multilayer synthetic fabrics and rubber. Rubber dam technology has been used in small structures in western countries, Southeast Asia, and Japan. Studies in India looked at using rubber dams for three projects but they were deemed not suitable for Indian conditions or cost-effective. Rubber dams have shorter lifespans than conventional structures, require constant security, and may be difficult to operate during floods compared to steel gates.
Rubber dams are flexible air-filled or water-filled membranes that are attached to concrete foundations to raise upstream water levels when inflated. They are made of multilayer synthetic fabrics and rubber. Rubber dam technology has been used in small structures in western countries, Southeast Asia, and Japan. Studies in India looked at using rubber dams for three projects but they were deemed not suitable for Indian conditions or cost-effective. Rubber dams have shorter lifespans than conventional structures, require constant security, and may be difficult to operate during floods compared to steel gates.
Rubber dams are flexible air-filled or water-filled membranes that are attached to concrete foundations to raise upstream water levels when inflated. They are made of multilayer synthetic fabrics and rubber. Rubber dam technology has been used in small structures in western countries, Southeast Asia, and Japan. Studies in India looked at using rubber dams for three projects but they were deemed not suitable for Indian conditions or cost-effective. Rubber dams have shorter lifespans than conventional structures, require constant security, and may be difficult to operate during floods compared to steel gates.
Rubber dams are flexible air-filled or water-filled membranes that are attached to concrete foundations to raise upstream water levels when inflated. They are made of multilayer synthetic fabrics and rubber. Rubber dam technology has been used in small structures in western countries, Southeast Asia, and Japan. Studies in India looked at using rubber dams for three projects but they were deemed not suitable for Indian conditions or cost-effective. Rubber dams have shorter lifespans than conventional structures, require constant security, and may be difficult to operate during floods compared to steel gates.
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A note on Rubber Dam
A. Rubber dams are flexible air filled or water filled
membranes attached to the concrete foundation to hold back the water Inflatable Rubber dams are cylindrical rubber fabrics placed across channels, streams and dam crests to raise the upstream water level when inflated. The membrane is a multi- layer fabric made of synthetic fibre and rubberized on one or both sides. The fabric is quite flexible and yet exhibits good wear-resistance characteristics. B. This technology is comparatively recent and has been tried on many small structures in western countries, Southeast Asia and Japan. CWC has also considered this modern alternative at some sites but could not opt for it being not considered suitable to Indian conditions as well as on cost consideration. C. Studies had been carried out in CWC for installation of Rubber Dam for the following projects: i. Gumani Barrage Project, Jharkhand ii. Vamsadhara Project, Andhra Pradesh iii. Rubber Dams across River Girna, Maharashtra D. The conclusion drawn from the studies are as follows: 1. Normal life a weir/barrage is generally considered as 100 years. In case of rubber dams no specific life span is available. During interaction with some renowned rubber dam manufacturers, it was informally indicated by them that life is considered as 25 years. This has to be viewed against the social and maintenance cultures prevailing in our country. It would be appropriate to assume that life of rubber dams in India would be around 15 to 20 years. Replacement at such short intervals will be inconvenient and also would depend on the supplier's monopoly. This assumes significance due to the fact that India has no facility of manufacture of such items. 2. Actual slit load at the proposed site is required to be considered and it has to be ensured that the type of rubber dam fabric is able to withstand the silt and boulders. Modalities of replacement and likely cost
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thereof are required to be carefully worked out in case
of damages. A conventional barrage is also accompanied with a thorough fare between the banks whereas for a rubber dam separate provision involving additional cost is to be made. The Rubber Dam is susceptible to tampering and constant watch and ward is required elaborate round the clock security is required to ensure their soundness as rubber dams are relatively weak compared to steel gates and are prove to vandalism. The operation of Rubber Dam across a major river's high flood discharge may pose problems as the width of the river is also high. Rubber dam needs to anchored in concrete foundation and may not be suitable for alluvial beds having high scour depth. Operation of gates of Barrage during floods is easier compared to definition of Rubber Dam during floods. Any failure/delay in deflation of Rubber Dam may cause serious submersion. It is informed that Rubber Dam has following disadvantages compared to conventional steel gates in general: a. It can be damaged easily. b. It has lesser life. c. It has limited height and therefore not suitable for large dams. d. Being a propriety item and monopoly of a limited number of suppliers, its initial cost and services are comparatively higher. e. In absence of technology transfer and being a propriety item, long term maintenance of rubber dam might be a problem because of dependency on single agency. f. In case of steel gates, damaged part can be repaired/replaced whereas in rubber dam, repair to a damaged part is a problem so replacement of the whole unit is the only solution.