Barriers and booms |
Compliance and containment
Karen Allan, General Manager at GEI Works in the US, gives an overview of the company’s barriers and booms that can be used within the hydroelectric dam construction and water treatment sectors
Below: GEI Works Type 3 Turbidity Barriers prepped for deployment at a hydroelectric dam project
THE FEDERAL CLEAN WATER Act and National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Regulations require construction companies doing work on or around water bodies to utilise floating barriers and other best
management practice tools to control construction impacts to waterways on a jobsite. GEI Works, a US- based manufacturer located in Florida, specialises in construction compliance and containment products with 20 years of combined experience in the field. More than just products though, GEI Works says it has a solutions-focused approach to ensure that project goals, environmental factors, budgets and timelines are discussed. “Factors such as wind, waves, and current greatly affect the success of an intended job,” Kirk Wands, VP of Sales states. “Too often a request comes in for a product that will not produce the intended results. It is a priority for us to ensure that the conditions on site will support the project goals with a proposed solution.” This becomes even more important when protecting downstream outflows, or water intakes. GEI Works has been involved in numerous large hydroelectric dam and water treatment facility projects over the years. “Working on hydroelectric dams and water
treatment facilities lends a specific set of challenges that are reviewed to ensure the right solution is put in place,” says Creig Benevides, Operations Manager for GEI Works. “Often we are talking about very deep turbidity curtains needed for work in which conditions may require some of our strongest barriers to withstand high velocity conditions and elevation changes if sluicegates will be open at any point in the construction, or for protection of intakes on site.” These projects require products that can transfer
Above: GEI Works’ Type 3 Turbidity curtain with 100ft depth skirts were used to protect the basin during shoreline construction activity at the Red Rock Dam in Iowa
Right: Pickwick Dam, TN – GEI Works’ Type 2 Turbidity curtain creates a protected perimeter, while a submersible curtain protects intakes from the bottom-up (Inner curtain depicted is approximately 15ft from the bottom, and 7ft from the surface)
28 | July 2022 |
www.waterpowermagazine.com
force loads upwards of tens of thousands of pounds on the system, while safely maintaining the job perimeter against turbidity, debris or spills. GEI Works’ manufactured Type 3 curtain with 100ft depth skirts were selected for a construction project on the Red Rock Dam in Iowa to meet site requirements. Components, design and anchoring were key factors in ensuring performance, with recommendations guiding anchor selection, system design and quantity. Each 100ft section of Type 3 Turbidity Permeable curtain utilised cabling and metal plates to ensure loads were transferred equally along the barrier. Reefing lines, which act similarly to the pull on a mini-blind, allowed for much greater ease in deployment, and depth control across multiple elevations on the lakebed. Despite significant current, 40lb super-hooker anchors held the barrier in place throughout construction. The job was successfully completed with 500 linear feet of barrier in varying sections up to 100ft depth.
Intake protection In addition to ensuring proper load-bearing transfer
and anchoring, GEI Works has produced a less-familiar product to protect intakes at various sites.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37
