Reclamation Information Sharing Environment (RISE)

Sealing the intake towers at Hoover Dam is a very labor-intensive operation. The goal of this study is to survey hydroelectric facilities to review their process of sealing their intake systems. All facilities had rubber on their seals. Approximately half of the facilities only needed to use the bulkheads with rubber seals. Debris sealants were used at other facilities when the bulkheads with rubber seals were not sufficient. Grand Coulee Dam is the only other facility that used a submersible device to deploy debris sealant, which is like Hoover Dam’s device. A small number of facilities use preformed flexible gaskets to enhance their bulkheads. The conclusion is that there are no readily available solutions to Hoover Dam’s intake tower sealing issues and an engineered solution specific to the needs of the intake tower is warranted.