DRIVES & CONTROLS FEATURE


A simple solution to flood defences


The weather reached biblical proportions in some parts of the country during the first few months of 2014. However, mankind is fighting back and here, Electrical Engineering takes a closer look at a sluice gate upgrade, featuring controls from Rotork, that has taken place on the River Stour near Dorset


S


luice gates are vitally important for defending against flooding during


periods of persistent rainfall, when swift and reliable operation can prevent serious disruption and damage to property. Alternatively, during periods of drought, sluice gates play an important role in maintaining the river level. Therefore, introducing a level of automation to manually operated river sluice gates makes good sense. The automation of a sluice gate is a


relatively simple operation. However, there are many factors including the location of the gates and the availability of power which can turn the exercise into a multi- disciplined task demanding a range of mechanical, electrical, civil engineering and project management skills. This was the situation facing Canford School, a boarding school near the banks of the River Stour in Dorset, when an upgrade was needed to the operation of three river sluice gates. The gates enable the upstream area of the river to be accessed, mainly for school sports use. The two metre square gates were equipped with open mesh gearboxes and handwheels, together with counterbalancing weights attached to each gate by a lifting chain and open pulley.


REDUCING RISK Manual operation of the gates took a long time and required a great deal of effort, as well as presenting a potential trapping risk to the operator. In recent times, changing weather patterns had also increased the risk of flooding to


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school property. Automation was therefore essential not only because of the flooding threat but also from a health and safety viewpoint. Following a consultation with the


Environment Agency, Canford School selected Rotork’s dedicated Site Services Division to perform the project on the sluice gates. Rotork’s proposal encompassed all aspects of the task in an extended scope contract, enabling them to organise the total supply of the work together with project management services. A major benefit of this approach for the customer is the simplified contractual route that minimises the number of separate sub-contractors that need to be employed.


EXTRA WORK Central to the upgrade was the installation of three Rotork IQ electric valve actuators and a local control centre.


Left: final inspection in progress following completion of the automation upgrade of Canford Sluice


Above: a view of Canford Sluice, illustrating the remote location which typifies many of these installations


However, being in a wooded environment some 60m distant from the nearest power supply, considerable extra work


was also required, involving: ●


gates and hinterland. ●


A full survey of the existing sluice Measuring existing equipment for


design and fabrication of adaptation for the actuators and protective shielding for


the open pulleys and chains. ●


The supply and installation of an


isolation and distribution board to an existing power supply in a building 60m


from the river. ●


A cable detection survey and


excavation of the cable route. ●


Supply and installation of power


cabling with a total length of 110m in ducting above and below ground between the power supply, the local control kiosk


and the actuators. ●


Installation of a concrete pad and a GRP


kiosk for the local electrical control panel. ●


Installation of Rotork Gears IB9 sealed gearboxes with machined drive nuts to suit existing spindles and cover tubes to protect the spindles and prevent


potential entanglement. ●


Installation of three Rotork IQ35


electric actuators - setting the actuator open and close limits and commissioning of the completed installation.


SUMMARY Following the completion of the work the time and effort required to operate the sluice gates has been dramatically reduced, enabling the school to manage the river level and flow with increased efficiency and with safety. In the future there may be scope to further upgrade the operation by installing river level sensors - the signals from which would operate the actuators fully automatically.


Rotork www.rotork.com T: 01225 733 200


Enter 212 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING | APRIL 2014 25


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