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Record: 1
Title: When the levee inflates.
Authors: Plaut, Raymond H.
Liapis, Stergios I.
Telionis, Demetri P.
Source: Civil Engineering (08857024). Jan1998, Vol. 68 Issue 1, p62. 3p. 4
Color Photographs, 1 Diagram, 1 Chart.
Document Type: Article
Subject Terms: *FLOOD control
Abstract: Focuses on the use of inflatable barriers to protect structures and
facilities from flood damage. Use of inflatable barriers for
damming or diverting waterways; List of major United States
floods in the 1990s and the estimated worth of damages; Vibration
response of anchored inflatable dams to floodwaters.
Full Text Word Count: 1658
ISSN: 0885-7024
Accession Number: 60424
Database: Academic Search Elite
WHEN THE LEVEE INFLATES
Proven effective for damming or diverting waterways, inflatable barriers could sandbag conventional
means of protecting property from flood damage.

In the U.S. alone, floods in the past five years have caused about $25 billion in property damage and
claimed more than 175 lives, according to government and other sources. This devastation calls for
improving current flood control devices and developing alternatives to levees and sandbags, which are
sometimes inadequate. Researchers at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va., are investigating the application of
inflatable dams and tubes to reduce or prevent flooding.

Inflatable dams are long, cylindrical, flexible structures anchored to a concrete base and abutments.
Developed initially by N.M. Imbertson of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power in the 1950s
and manufactured as Fabridams by the Firestone Tire and Rubber Co., these early dams were constructed
of rubber material approximately 1/8 in. thick. A few failures occurred when the rubber was damaged by
abrasion, but new materials and anchoring systems have made inflatable dams much stronger and more
durable, as well as more resistant to damage and deterioration by sunlight and ozone. Manufacturers now
predict at least a 30 year lifetime for their dams.

Modern inflatable dams are easy to install, require little maintenance, do not corrode or require painting
and can be used under extreme temperatures and harsh conditions. They are usually filled with air using a
compressor connected to a control system and can be inflated or deflated in one or two hours. In some
cases they are filled with water or a combination of water and air. Some dams are connected to the base
with two clamping bars, one upstream and one downstream, whereas others are anchored with a single bar
on the upstream side.

Communities use inflatable dams to increase the height of existing dams or spillways, impound water for
recreational basins, divert water for irrigation or groundwater recharging, control water flow for
hydroelectric production or prevent river backflows caused by high tides. Manufacturers note that the dams

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are sometimes used for flood control; in these cases they are temporarily deflated to allow heavy flows to
pass over, preventing upstream flooding. However, inflatable dam technology has not yet been used to
protect buildings and towns from high floodwaters.

MISSED OPPORTUNITY
The citizens of Davenport, Iowa, decided not to sacrifice their easy access to the Mississippi River to
levee construction. They were also reluctant to spoil the view they enjoyed of the river. During the Midwest
flood of 1993, the river rose 8 ft at Davenport, causing millions of dollars of damage. This damage could
have been reduced with a set of inflatable dams that, when not needed, would lie flat along the riverbank.

Today, two Japanese companies manufacture most of the world's inflatable dams. Bridgestone,
headquartered in Tokyo and represented in the U.S. by Bridgestone Engineered Products in Nashville,
Tenn., makes what it calls a Rubber Dam. There are about 600 of these dams throughout the world,
including about 50 in the U.S. Usually less than 16 ft high, the dams are up to 400 ft long and 0.4 to 1.0 in.
thick and are made of rubber integrated with ethylene propylene diene monomer and reinforced with two to
five layers of nylon. During overflow conditions, an attached fin deflects water over the downstream side of
the dam, reducing vibrations. A 13-ft-high, 300-ft-long Rubber Dam on Alameda Creek in Fremont, Calif.,
was built in 1989 at a cost of $3.2 million.

Sumigates are manufactured by Sumitomo Electric Industries of Osaka, Japan, represented in the U.S. by
Atlantic Fluid Technology Associates, of Worcester, Mass. More than 1,300 Sumigates are in use, but only
a few of these are in the U.S. They are usually 1/6 to 5/8 in. thick and are made of a chloroprene rubber
compound with two to three layers of nylon.

A Sumigate installed in 1992 on the Santa Ana River in California at a cost of $2.6 million is 6.5 ft high and
320 ft long. Both the Fremont and the Santa Ana dam are used to divert water into percolation ponds to
recharge the groundwater. The dams can be deflated when necessary to allow the initial, relatively dirty
runoff to pass by or to prevent overflow of the banks upstream.

A spillway gate made by Obermeyer Hydro Accessories of Fort Collins, Colo.

(http://www.obermeyerhydro.com), uses air-inflated bladders. The pneumatic crest gate system comprises
a series of 10-ft-long bladders attached to a concrete foundation. Bottom-hinged steel panels lie on top of
the bladders. When the bladders are inflated, the panels are raised until they are almost vertical. The
panels, which are up to 15 ft high and are connected to one another with rubber webs, can hold back water
for hydroelectric production or water storage. This system has been installed at more than 40 sites, most
of them in the U.S.

Water- or air-filled tubes that rest on the ground to hold back floodwater use some of the same technology
as anchored dams, but at a much lower cost. The tubes, which have a base width approximately twice their
height, are designed to be transported and rapidly deployed at sites of imminent flooding. They are usually
reusable, can be rolled up and stored in a small amount of space and do not present the disposal problem
of sandbags. They work best for water heights of 5 ft or less on flat surfaces, and most can be connected
to form longer barriers.

The manufacturers of these portable flood barriers use various designs to prevent rolling. One type has a
triangular cross section that creates a downward force when floodwaters exert pressure on the sloped
sides. Another system uses polyethylene inner tubes and a woven geotextile outer tube, relying on the
friction between the tubes to resist rolling. Others employ an internal baffle to hold the barrier in place. Dam
Technologies Inc., Gadendale, Ala.(http://www.aquabarrier.com); Watermasters, Boise, Id.; WaterWall Inc.,
Brantford, Ontario (http://www.waterwall.com); Water Structures Unlimited, Carlotta, Calif.
(http://www.waterstructures.com); and Nordisk Aquateknik, Hudiksvall, Sweden (http://www.noaq.se), all

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make inflatable flood barriers.

FURTHER DISCOVERY
At Virginia Tech, researchers have been studying the feasibility of using inflatable structures for flood
protection since 1983. Computer simulations and model experiments help determine a dam's dynamic
response and stability, properties that are affected by the geometry and material of the structure, the
supporting conditions, the pressure of the internal air or water, and the external water pressure or flow. A
dam must not collapse when subjected to flowing water or when it is overtopped. These studies aid in
determining appropriate designs for inflatable structures.

To numerically study the dynamic response of the flexible dam in two or three dimensions, the structure is
modeled as a shell using the finite element method; the boundary element method is used to model the
fluid. Researchers have characterized the first four vibration modes of a single-anchored inflatable dam
with a fin when subjected to a parallel flow of external water on the left side whose height is about one-third
the height of the dam. The first two modes are symmetric about the center of the dam.

Scale models of the inflatable dams are placed in two water channels, 2 and 6 ft wide. One investigation
concerned the feasibility of surrounding a critical facility with dams that remain deflated until needed. Water
treatment plants, which were flooded in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1993, Macon, Ga., in 1994 and Grand Forks,
N.D., in 1997, are prime candidates for protection. Bridgestone is designing a dam to protect a hospital in
New Zealand from flooding.

Researchers at Virginia Tech are also investigating the use of geosynthetic tubes filled with dredged
material for temporary protection against flooding. The stackable tubes have been used as permanent
dikes and breakwaters, as well as to prevent beach erosion, protect tunnels and underwater pipelines,
contain contaminated material and divert pollution. These "sand sausages" are heavy and remain fairly
immobile when subjected to external water forces, but they are more difficult to fill and dispose of than
water-filled tubes.

The potential applications of anchored and unanchored inflatable structures in providing flood protection
are numerous. Inflatable dams could be constructed along a riverfront in place of levees and would remain
deflated and out of the way (allowing access and unspoiled views) when not needed. They could be
installed around critical facilities and, again, inflated only when flooding was imminent. Transportable water-
filled (or air-filled) structures could replace sandbags, requiring less effort and no serious disposal problem
afterward. Eventually, owners of homes and businesses in flood-prone areas could have their own tubes to
deploy as reusable alternatives to sandbags.

RECENT MAJOR U.S. FLOODS

Legend for Chart:

A - Location and Time

B - Estimated Deaths
C - Estimated Damage ($ billions)

A B C

Midwest, summer 1993 50 15

Southeast, July 1994 32 1
California, early 1995 2 73
Pacific Northwest, February 1996 9 1
West, winter 1996/97 36 2

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Ohio River, March 1997 20 1

Red River, April 1997 4 2

Total 178 25
PHOTO (COLOR): Inflatable barriers add reservoir capacity to a dam on the pit river in California.

PHOTO (COLOR): Fins reduce vibrations during overflow, prolonging a rubber dam's service life.

PHOTO (COLOR): A system of inflatable barriers, deflated during normal conditions, could protect homes
and critical facilities during severe flooding.

PHOTO (COLOR): With occasional severe flooding of the mississippi river a sure bet, owners of the
Grand Casino Tunica installed inflatable barriers to protect their parking lots.

DIAGRAM: Vibration responses of anchored inflatable dams to floodwaters, modeled using finite and
boundary element methods, permit feasibility studies for proposed installations.

~~~~~~~~
By RAYMOND H. PLAUT , STERGIOS I. LIAPIS and DEMETRI P. TELIONIS

Raymond H. Plaut, M.ASCE, is the D.H. Pletta Professor of Engineering in the Department of Civil
Engineering at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va. Stergios I. Liapis is an assistant professor in the Department
of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering at Virginia Tech, and Demetri P. Telionis is the F.J. Maher Professor
in the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics there.

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