1 Rubber Dam—An Introduction

Ajay Vasudeo Rane1, Surendra Thakur2 and Rookmoney Thakur3

1
Composite Research Group, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Durban University of
Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2Centre for Continuous & Professional Education,
Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 3International Centre of
Non-Violence, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa

Abstract
Former United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Ghali (1985)
warned: “the wars in the future are likely to be fought over water.” For
centuries, warfare and conflict has been interrelated to the protection of
water resources. Water is a source of life. And like oil and other natural
resources, it follows that the availability of water is every bit as vital to
human improvement as energy security, however, with one huge limita-
tion: unlike oil, water has no known substitutes. As such, no nation can
afford to suffer a calamitous loss of water resources. For years experts
have warned that this limited resource is fast becoming more critical
with the changing requirement of an expanding global populace
and effects of climate change around its availability. Many countries in
the Middle East, Africa, Central and South Asia—for example,
Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, Kenya, Egypt, and India—are already feel-
ing the direct consequences of the water scarcity—with the competition
for water leading to social unrest, conflict, and migration. Water is an
essential entity to sustain human life and other living organism. The con-
flict between human population and earth’s unchanging supply of fresh
water is worsening every year, which possess a challenge in meeting the
water needs of an increasing human population while parting an amount
for environmental life cycles. To overcome the problem of water short-
age “dams” are an appropriate solution for water conservation.
Keywords: Rubber dam; air filled; water filled; check dam

Former United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Ghali (1985) warned:

“the wars in the future are likely to be fought over water.” For centuries
warfare and conflict has been interrelated to the protection of water

Hydraulic Rubber Dam. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-812210-5.00001-8

© 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1
2 HYDRAULIC RUBBER DAM

resources (Shiva, 2016). Water is a source of life. And like oil and other
natural resources, it follows that the availability of water is every bit as
vital to human improvement as energy security, however, with one
huge limitation: unlike oil, water has no known substitutes. As such, no
nation can afford to suffer a calamitous loss of water resources. For
years experts have warned that this limited resource is fast becoming
more critical with the changing requirement of an expanding global
populace and effects of climate change around its availability. Many
countries in the Middle East, Africa, Central and South Asia—for
example, Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, Kenya, Egypt, and India—are
already feeling the direct consequences of the water scarcity—with the
competition for water leading to social unrest, conflict and migration.
The one idea that standout for its simplicity, efficacy and afford-
ability is rain water harvesting. Capture rain water, store it and
use it—it is as simple that. If appropriate technologies are built
around this simple idea, they can provide decentralized, local—
level solutions that can considerably meet the drinking water
needs of our urban and rural populations.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prime Minister of India, 2000 as cited in
the book of Patrick McCully, Silenced Rivers (McCully, 2001).
As mentioned earlier, water is one of the most important substances
on earth. All plants and animals must have water to survive; if there
was no water, there would have been no life on earth (http://www.
health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/ohpenhealth-
manual-atsi-cnt-lBohp-enhealth-manual-atsi-cnt-l-ch6Bohp-enhealth-
manual-atsi-cnt-l-ch6.1). Water is an essential entity to sustain human
life and other living organisms. The conflict between human popula-
tion and the earth’s unchanging supply of fresh water is worsening
every year which possess a challenge in meeting the water needs of
an increasing human population while parting an amount for environ-
mental life cycles. To overcome the problem of water shortage,
“dams” are an appropriate solution for water conservation. The history
of dams has been traced to about 2900 BC when a 49-ft high masonry
structure was built on the Nile at Kosheish to supply water to King
Mene’s capital at Memphis. The oldest dam still in use is a rock fill
structure about 20 ft high on Orontes in Syria, built during 1300 BC
(http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title 5 Dam). The word dam has
synonyms like barrage, barrier, wall, embankment, levee, barricade,
obstruction, hindrance, and blockage. In water conservation—a dam is
a barrier that stops and restricts the flow of water or underground
1: RUBBER DAM—AN INTRODUCTION 3

streams, that is, to collect water which is then evenly distributed

between locations. The primary purpose of dams is to retain water
while structures like levees prevent water flow into specific land
regions. Dams are typically categorized as per Fig. 1.1. Fig. 1.2 pro-
vides the detailed classification of dams, based on structure, use, and
materials. Fig. 1.3 classifies the function of dams.

Figure 1.1 Categories of dams (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dam).

Figure 1.2 Classification of dams on basis of their structure, use, and material
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dam).
4 HYDRAULIC RUBBER DAM

Figure 1.3 General functions of dams (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dam).

With the development of polymer composites, there is a new type of

hydraulic structures, which is the inflatable rubber dam belongs to the
flexible wall structure. Inflatable rubber dams have been used as water
control structures for more than 50 years. The world’s first
inflatable rubber dam was installed in Los Angeles Country in the
United States in the mid-1950s. In those days, inflatable rubber dams
were viewed much as they are today as relatively inexpensive versatile
structures capable of creating pondage and/or controlling flow in a par-
ticular water course (Technical Manual). Rubber dam is long tubular-
shaped fabric (coated with rubber) and sand witched between rubber
sheets and used as a water control structure since 1950. Rubber dams
are seamless structures fixed to a reinforced concrete using accessories
like clamp plates and anchor bolts, the rubber dams are then inflated
with air or water as per designed (for pressure and height) to raise the
1: RUBBER DAM—AN INTRODUCTION 5

upstream water level (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dam). Rubber dams

has numerous advantages over other types of water control gate, such as
simple and inexpensive operating system, can be installed on almost any
channel cross-section shape, relatively low capital cost, perfect sealing,
that is, no leakage, virtually maintenance free, that is, no moving parts
and no painting, long spans up to 100 m and multiple spans of several
hundred meters, easily designed to accept loading in both directions,
light structure, clean operation (no hydraulic required), can always be
opened (deflated) and no possibility of jamming (Technical Manual).
The construction cost of the inflatable rubber dam is low. According
to information available, the average investment can be reduced by
30% 70%. The construction period is not very long, and most of the
inflatable rubber dams can be completed in the year of construction
(http://www.rubberdam.org/product/water-filled-rubber-dam.html). As
the inflatable rubber dam has a flexible structure and is economical;
hence, it can effectively buffer the impact of water, resist earthquakes,
and so on (http://www.rubberdam.org/product/water-filled-rubber-dam.
html). It can also be applied to garden projects in urban areas and has a
wide range of applications to retain water, divert water for irrigation,
create pondage, control flood, control water, erosion control, tidal bar-
riers, raise existing dams, develop water entertainment, power genera-
tion, urban landscaping, ground water recharging, sewage treatment,
adjust water level, generate hydroelectric power, shipping, increase res-
ervoir capacity, ecological protection, antitide, erosion control, river
regulation prevention of overtopping, and chemical spillage in streams
(Technical Manual).
The key element of the inflatable rubber dam is the rubber body
(Technical Manual). Rubber dams are made of multilayer fabric compris-
ing strength, canvas, and rubber layers, which consist of outer, middle,
and inner layers which serves their function during field performance.
Rubber compound for outer layer is formulated to impart excellent ultravi-
olet (UV), heat, ozone, and abrasion resistance. The outer rubber layer has
excellent weathering, aging, abrasion, sunlight, UV, heat, and ozone resis-
tance. The middle rubber layer is used for protection of canvas and for
connection of two or more canvas with rubber layers. The inner layer is
used for protection of canvas and has excellent watertight and airtight
properties. The canvas has great flexural stress and adhesion function
(http://www.rubberdam.org/product/water-filled-rubber-dam.html).
Commercial classification for rubber dam on the medium of inflation
and deflation, and structure is done in Fig. 1.4. Air-filled rubber dam,
as the name suggests, indicates a rubber bladder, in which air is pumped
6 HYDRAULIC RUBBER DAM

Figure 1.4 Commercial classification of inflatable rubber dam (http://www.

rubberdam.org/product/water-filled-rubber-dam.html).

Figure 1.5 Cross-section of air-filled rubber dam.

to inflate (see Fig. 1.5). Air-filled rubber dams are used across channels;
streams to store water or divert water for irrigation purpose. Air-filled
rubber dams are economic (low cost), as they do not make use of high-
cost water pumps, piping, and wide concrete foundation for specified
applications. Inflation and deflation are quicker, hence consume less
power for their operation. As air is pumped in and out to inflate and
deflate, it eliminates the risk of freezing in cold weather condition (http://
www.rubberdam.org/product/water-filled-rubber-dam.html). Water-filled
rubber dam, are filled with stabilizing water (see Fig. 1.6). In comparison
to air-filled rubber dams—high operation costs are involved for water-
filled rubber dam as longer times are required for inflation and deflation.
1: RUBBER DAM—AN INTRODUCTION 7

Figure 1.6 Cross-section of water filled rubber dam.

Figure 1.7 Cross-section of bookend rubber dam.

Maintenance cost for water-filled rubber dam is low. Water-filled rubber

dams are steady providing control over upstream water levels in compari-
son to air-filled rubber dams (http://www.rubberdam.org/product/water-
filled-rubber-dam.html). There is a high risk for freezing in winter;
hence, water circulation is needed. Bookend rubber dam is finned
(see Fig. 1.7) which forms a rising angle after inflation with air or water.
Fin reduces the vibration and abrasion of the dam by eliminating vacuum
underneath the bookend rubber dam. Bookend rubber also possesses
excellent lateral tension. It has resistance against dirt and sediment. Shield-
type rubber dam integrates structure of traditional steel dam and rubber dam.
Structures composed of air-filled rubber bladder, shielded with steel struc-
tures (front plates and support plates), are seen in Fig. 1.8. Shield-type rubber
dams are easy to install, easy to repair, longer service life, multilevel app-
lication (http://www.rubberdam.org/product/water-filled-rubber-dam.html).
Design consideration plays an important role in serviceability of rubber
dam installed for intended application, for example: outer layer of rubber
dam should be resistant to damage by impact of sharpen bits and pieces,
if not a cover layer should be a part of assembly of component during its
8 HYDRAULIC RUBBER DAM

Figure 1.8 Side view of shield-type rubber dam.

initial manufacturing stages. Considering the clamping system—double

clamp systems provide strength to rubber structure than single clamping
system. Angle of inclination is an important parameter while setting up a
rubber dam on a field, which determines the wrinkle formation during
inflation and deflation, wrinkle formation during operation should be
minimized to increase the life span of rubber dam. Filling medium, for
example, water-filled rubber dams are more stable than air-filled ones. In
deflated condition, rubber dam must lie flat on surface, minimizing dis-
turbance to flow. Fitment clamps and anchors must be aligned and fitted
skillfully to avoid leakage of filled media (air or water) during its opera-
tion (Pardeshi and Mahajan). Natural and synthetic rubbers compounded
with specific additives (fillers, accelerators, process aids), coated fabric
is used as a reinforcement in between the rubber sheets, enhances the
strength of rubber dam during application. More details on raw materials
and process involved in fabrication of rubber dam are discussed further
in the book. Clamping plates and anchor bolts are used in fitment during
construction of a rubber dam structure in desired location. Smooth func-
tioning of rubber dam is required, for which a control system involving
pressure gauge, water gauge, pressure regulator, inflate and deflate valve,
check valve and float valve is made use of, now a days automatic control
systems are also available. Information on bonding, anchoring, inflation
and deflation in rubber dams, effect of different stress on rubber dam,
and life cycle assessment of rubber dam is also part of this book. To con-
clude, rubber dams, as water harvesting structures, will help in manage-
ment of natural resources and conservation of water for agrarian
countries that needs higher number of small dams. Construction of rub-
ber dams in place of traditional dam enhances the irrigation efficiency
1: RUBBER DAM—AN INTRODUCTION 9

and cost effectiveness. Rubber dams, as check dams, are capable to pre-
vent flood, reduce dependency on monsoon, increase in level of water
storage for release, and uniform distribution during droughts leads to
efficient use and conservation of water.

References
McCully, P., 2001. Silenced Rivers The Ecology and Politics of Large
Dams. ZED Books, London and New York, ISBN 1856499014.
Pardeshi, D.G., Mahajan, K.S., 2016. Rubber dam—effective method to
improve upstream flow of river. J. Water Resour. Pollut. Stud. 1 (2), 1 14.
Shiva, V., 2016. Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution, and Profit. North
Atlantic Books, Berkeley, CA.
Technical Manual. Spillway Gates and Inflatable Rubber Dams. Dyrhoff Ltd.