RELIABILITY AND PERFORMANCE OF INFLATABLE DAMS

摘要

In recent years, inflatable dam technology has significantly advanced and has become anrneconomical solution for installing new and replacing old spillway crest gates up to 18 feet high.rnThe hydraulic and environmental advantages of inflatable dams have also made them anrnattractive solution for constructing new and replacing old run of the river low-head gravity dams.rnIn the United States, over 200 inflatable dams have been installed since 1980, and the rate ofrntheir use on dam projects is increasing rapidly. Since 1970, four different types of inflatable damsrnhave been used in the United States: Imbertson Fabridam, Sumitomo Sumigate, BridgestonernRubber Dams, and Obermeyer Hydro Inflatable Gates. These inflatable dam types have beenrninstalled in a wide variety of conditions, configurations, and environments.rnVery little has been published on the reliability and performance of inflatable dams; in partrndue to their fairly recent introduction to the dam engineering community. With over 2,000rninflatable dams in service world wide, and over 10,000 years of collective service experience,rnthere is now a basis for evaluating the general performance of this technology. The purpose ofrnthis paper is to provide a brief summary of the history and recent advances in inflatable damrntechnology, and discuss the performance and reliability of inflatable dams.