Inflatable Rubber Dam

Inflatable rubber dams are cylindrical rubber fabrics placed across channels, streams and weir or dam crests to raise the upstream water level when inflated. The membrane is a multi-layer fabric made of synthetic fibre (usually nylon) and rubberised on one or both sides. The fabric is quite flexible and yet exhibits good wear-resistance characteristics. A layer of stainless steel mesh or ceramic chips can be embedded in the surface layer to reduce or prevent vandal damage.

The inflatable flexible membrane dams (IFMD, or rubber dams) were developed in the early 1950s – Flexidam – Imbertson. They are installed in stream and river beds, generally being bolted into a concrete foundation. They are used to divert water for irrigation, temporarily raising existing dams, flood control, water retention for aquifer recharge, reducing or preventing salt water intrusion into fresh water areas, protect low-lying coastal areas from tidal flooding, enabling fish passage past diversion works, by deflation, and for sewage retention/separation during flood events. Inflatable dams can be filled with water, air or both.

They are low pressure – typically 4 to 10 psi. The present trend suggests an increased use of air-filled membranes because they can be deflated or inflated more rapidly, and they are liƩle affected by freezing conditions. Characteristic dimensions cover typically lengths of about 100 m with specially-made membranes up to 200-m wide, dam heights usually less than 5-m but some special designs might be up to 10-m high. The membrane is usually deflated for large overflows. It is however common practice to allow small spillages over the inflated dam.

There are more than 2000 inflatable rubber dams around the world. Durability can be excellent: recently, a 35-year-old dam in eastern Ontario, Canada was replaced, and while still functional in both freezing winter conditions when it was air filled, and water filled in summer, it was deemed to have served its useful life, and was replaced.