Rubber Dam : The New

Construction Material for

Dam

SUBMITTED BY : UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF:

KUNAL K. SAWANT DR. A. S. GARUDKAR
 CONTENTS
Necessity of rubber dam
What is rubber dam
Selection of a Rubber dam site
Construction of Rubber dam
Operation mechanism
Characteristics
Repair techniques
Rubber Dam Applications
Future plan of work in India
Case study
Conclusion
References
 WHY RUBBER DAM ?
Better control of flood and
draught.

Indias per capita water storage Increase of per capita water

storage capacity and water
use efficiency

Easy installation

Lower investment cost

( about 40%) than the
conventional gated
regulating structure

Ground re-charging

Other purposes: irrigation,

water supply, power
generation, tidal barrier
,environmental
improvement.
 WHAT IS RUBBER DAM ?
Basically rubber dams are fabric reinforced rubber
bags, which can be inflated or deflated by water or
air. The fabric gives the necessary strength where
as rubber acts as a shock absorber and water
proofing material.

It functions as a reliable crest-adjustable water

gate.

Construction of Rubber dam

Concrete base slab & side walls
Anchorage
Dam bag /Membrane
Water or air filling & draining system/Control
system
 RUBBER DAM SECTION

Rubber dam

Concrete structure
Anchoring

This figure shows how rubber body is secured to a concrete foundation

by
its anchor line.
SELECTION OF A SUITABLE DAM SITE

In the site selection following

condtions should be
considered:

Straight section
Smooth Flow
Riverbed and Bank slopes are
stable.
Geological
Hydrologic
Meteorological
Hydraulic conditions
 CONSTRUCTION OF RUBBER DAM
Dam bag /Membrane:
The rubber dam body is a membrane of rubberized
fabric, which is composed of layers of synthetic rubber
and layers of synthetic fiber reinforcement that are
firmly bonded together by vulcanization.
Physical-mechanical properties of the dam membrane
are given by
tensile strength
elasticity and flexibility
ozone-resistance
high-temperature and low-temperature resistance
abrasion-resistance
weather-resistance
Construction of Rubber dam
Operation mechanisms
Inflation: An air blower or
water pump and ancillary
devices such as valves
are used to inflate the air
or water filled dam
respectively.
Deflation: There are three
types of deflation
systems: bucket, float,
and electrical.
Safety systems: An air blow-
off tank(air-filled dam)
and siphon pipe(water-
filled dam)
can be used as a safety
 CHARACTERISTICS
Water filled rubber dam:
Advantages
The weight of the water-filled
dam prevents vibrations.
The entire height of the dam rises
or lowers evenly.
Weaknesses
Air filled rubber dam:
Advantages
Faster lowering and raising of
the weir.
Cheaper construction.
Lower power consumption.

More expensive construction: a

wider concrete sill, more Weaknesses
expensive water pumps, more Vibrations of the weir.
expensive pipelines due to a
Uneven emptying of the weir
bigger diameter of pipes.
(sinking of the centre of the
Manipulation takes more time weir).
(filling up and emptying the
Vandalism (puncturing,
weir).
cutting).
Freezing of the weir (the
possibility of water freezing in
REPAIR TECHNIQUES
 RUBBER DAM APPLICATIONS

Height Length
Purpose Dam/Project Name Country
(m) (m)
Groundwater
Sonoma Dam USA 3.3 36.9
recharge

Hydropower Glenford dam Canada 1.7 74.7

Lamchi Muang Ling
Irrigation Thailand 4 73
Dam
Increasing
Mirani Weir Australia 1.8 107.3
reservoir capacity
Navigation Tsudae Dam Japan 1.5 20
Recreation Shin Chon Dam Korea 1.5 50.65
Rehabilitation Vaca Dam Philippines 2.0 13.3
Drinking water Altoona Dam USA 1.53 35.7

Flow control
Ichioka Sewerage Plant Japan 1.1 6.5
(sewerage)
Taiwan,
Flood control Shing Chu River Dam 1.6 8
China
Tidal barrier Naruse River Japan 2.3 42.1
 FUTURE PLAN OF WORK IN INDIA

Gujarat's first rubber dam to be built over Tapi at Rundh.

Source: The times of India, Surat. Jun 8, 2010.
Expert team inspects site for rubber dam in Pampa River.
Source: The Hindu Kerala.July 28, 2007.
First fully mechanized rubber dam in India is being built
in Andhra Pradesh, over the Janjhavathi river in
Vizianagaram district.
SEVERAL STATESincluding Jharkhand and West Bengal,
have shown interest in rubber dams. Jharkhand Water
Resources Department officials said that they have
approached Hydroconstruct to build a dam. Source:
Tehelka.com August 28, 2010.
Installation and evaluation of Rubber Dams at various
watersheds at Bhubaneshwar, Orissa.
The steel industrial kerala limited a public sector
company, has entered into an agreement with an
australian firm(hydro construct) for the construction of
rubber dams in kerala. Source: The times of India,
Thiruvananthapuram. Mar 3, 2002.
Many more
 CASE STUDY

Rubber Dam at Baghamari , Orissa

 Field Evaluation Report

During July to December 2011, there was no rainfall with stressful

period. From July 15th to Aug 13th, there was no rainfall & the fields
were dry. Because of stored water in Rubber Dam site, irrigation could
be given through diversion channel on left side of the dam to around 40
ha area for more than 100 farmers. But crop cutting was made by
sampling for 19 farmers. During flowering stage of the paddy i.e. the
critical stage of the crop in November there was scanty rainfall and the
stored water of the dam has saved the crop. During 2nd week of
December, there was unusual heavy rain & entire harvested water was
saved in Dam. This became useful for Rabi pulses amounting to 60 ha.
The average yield of paddy (kharif) during 2008-09 was 2.5 to 3.1 t/ha
where as during 2009-10 kharif it was 4.2 to 4.9 t/ha.
 CONCLUSION
Rubber Dam can effectively used for the purpose
irrigation, water supply, tidal barrier, ground
water recharge, hydro power generation and
recreation.
Compared to steel gates , the rubber dam
becomes more cost effective with the increase of
the length of its span.
The operation of rubber dam is easy and the
operation and maintenance cost are minimal
because of its simple structures and innovative
inflation and deflation mechanism.
The air filled dams should be used instead of
water filled dams because their advantages.
 REFERENCES
X. Q Zhang, P. W. M. Tam et. al., Construction,
operation and maintenane of rubber dams,
Canada Journal of Civil Engg, Vol 26, pp 409-420.
Design and Development of Rubber Dams for
Watersheds Half Yearly Progress Report (April
2011 September 2011)
Thank you