US3609979A

US3609979A - Flood control method and apparatus

Info

Publication number: US3609979A
Application number: US878818A
Authority: US
Inventors: Michael Lukawsky
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1969-11-21
Filing date: 1969-11-21
Publication date: 1971-10-05
Anticipated expiration: 1988-10-05
Also published as: BE759279A

Abstract

FLOOD CONTROL METHOD AND APPRATUS UTILIZE TUBULAR BODIES WITH CENTRALLY LOCATED IMPELLERS WHICH ARE PLACED IN A WATERWAY IN THE VICINITY OF A FLOODED LOCATION WHERE THE IMPELLERS PROMOTE THE FLOW OF WATER AWAY FROM THE FLOODED LOCATION.

Description

Oct. 5, 1971 M. LUKAWSKY FLOOD CONTROL METHOD AND APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 21 1969 l rr INVENTOR MICHAEL LUKAWSKY Oct. 5, 1971 L Y 3,609,919

FLOOD CONTROL METHOD AND APPARATUS Filed NOV. 21, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVE NTOR MICHAEL LUKAWSKY States Patent 3,609,979 FLOOD CONTROL METHOD AND APPARATUS Michael Lukawsky, 871 N. 22nd St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19130 Filed Nov. 21, 1969, Ser. No. 878,818

Int. Cl. E02b 3/02 US. Cl. 612 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Flood control method and apparatus utilize tubular bodies with centrally located impellers which are placed in a waterway in the vicinity of a flooded location where the impellers promote the flow of water away from the flooded location.

This invention relates to an apparatus used to prevent or minimize the adverse effects of floods occurring in rivers, streams and other waterways.

It has previously been suggested that floods may be prevented by anchoring a number of power-driven vessels near the mouth of a river and operating their propellers to discharge water from the flooded area. The inefliciency of impelling water in such a fashion has prevented the adoption of this prior technique. This invention, on the other hand, provides an apparatus which confines a water impeller in a tubular body in order to improve its efliciency; and, means are provided to prevent the return flow of water to the flooded area.

According to the invention, there is an open-ended tubular body adapted to be submerged in a waterway. An impeller is supported within the tubular body and rotates about an axis which is oriented longitudinally with respect to the tubular body. Rotation of the impeller by drive means forces water through the tubular body from an area where flooding has occurred to a downstream area. The disclosed means for supporting each of these tubular bodies includes a buoyant hull-like supporting body which contributes to the mobility of these devices; and, the hulls are shaped so that when nested together across the waterway, they will provide an effective barrier to the return flow of water to the flooded area.

A more complete understanding of a preferred embodiment of the invention may be had by inspecting the accompanying drawings wherein FIG. 1 is a view of a plurality of devices made according to the invention, nested across a waterway to impel water away from a flooded area.

FIG. 2 is an elevational view, partly in section, of the preferred apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of apparatus constructed according to the invention.

FIG. 4 shows a portion of the invention used to secure the apparatus in a desired location in a Waterway while permitting its vertical adjustment.

It is well known that one cause of floods is that rivers and other streams flow rather slowly so that when there is an excessive amount of water in a concentrated location, the waterway will overflow its banks as it cannot discharge rapidly into a downstream area.

This invention is directed to the avoidance or minimization of flood damage by increasing the flow of a stream in its downstream direction and away from a flooded area. This involves tubular bodies through which the waters of a stream are positively impelled by the apparatus disclosed in this application.

Referring to FIG. 1, it will be seen that a stream that has overflowed its banks and has flooded an area 2 which may be regarded as the crest of the flood. Downstream from the crest, in an area 4, the river is within its banks,

at least until such time that the crest of the flood reaches this area.

Across the stream in the area 4, there are a series of hull-like bodies 6 which are nested closely together and carry the means for impelling water in a downstream direction represented by the arrow 8'. These bodies 6 are designed so that, when nested together, they will obstruct the waterway except in the area through which their water-impelling mechanisms are operative.

One of the hull-like bodies is shown in FIG. 2. It has transverse bulkheads 11 which support an open-ended tubular body 10 and prevent water from flowing through the hull around the tubular body 10. The tube 10 prefer ably but not essentially is circular in cross-section and it is longitudinally oriented with respect to the hull. It may have a diameter of approximately ten feet and a length of about 20 feet. The overall length of the apparatus is about 30 feet. The upstream end of the tubular body 10 is in communication with an area 12 located within the hull to receive water through a plurality of perforations 14. The presence of the perforated area in the bow of the hull 6 prevents the entrance of large foreign objects into the impelling mechanism described below.

The discharge or downstream end of the tubular body 10 is unobstructed during operation of the apparatus; however, when the apparatus is inoperative, the rear portion thereof is covered by a transom 16 which is pivotally connected to the hull at 18. Before operating the apparatus, the transom 16 is lowered by a cable 20 to the position shown in broken lines at 22 where it will prevent the flow of water beneath the body of hull 6. The transom is rectangular and it has a width substantially coextensive with the beam of hull 6 so that when a plurality of these hulls are nested together as shown in FIG. 1, they will prevent the return flow of water to the flooded area.

Preferably, two separate impellers are used to promote the flow of water through the tubular body 10. These impellers are supported by webs 24 which extend radially inwardly from the walls of the tubular body 10 to support a pair of bearing

cylinders

26 and 28. The central impeller 30 is a propeller attached to shaft 32 which rotates within the bearing 28. The impeller 34 has an open central portion and it includes an internal sleeve 36 which rotates on the exterior portion of bearing cylinder 26. Its blades form an angle with respect to a plane which lies perpendicular to its axis of rotation.

The hull 6 carries a motor 38 which may be driven by any suitable means and includes a power shaft 40 carrying a pair of

sprockets

42 and 44.

Chains

46 and 48 pass over the

sprockets

42 and 44, respectively, with the chain 48 being operatively associated with a sprocket 50 which is keyed to the shaft 32 to drive the impeller 30. Sprocket teeth are also located on the outer surface of the sleeve 36 and are engaged with the chain 46. With this arrangement, rotation of the shaft 40 will produce rotation of both

impellers

30 and 34 to drive water toward the downstream portion of the river.

The apparatus of the invention is quite mobile due to the reserve buoyancy of the hull 6 so that it may be moved from one area of the river to another.

The hulls, when operating, are held in position by their engagement with stakes or piles 52 which are driven into the floor 54 of the waterway. As best shown in FIG. 4, each of these piles 52 is notched at its downstream side to accommodate horizontal beams 56 which are slidably connected to the hull 6 in a manner which permits relative vertical movement. This slidable connection is established by a series of vertical rods 58 which are rigidly attached to the beams 56 and are slidably received within the guide sleeves 60 permanently attached to the hull 6. Vertical movement of the rods 58 within the sleeves 60 permits vertical adjustment of the tubular body 10. One way of making a vertical adjustment is by using the fluid operated rams 62- which have their outer portions secured tothe hull body and their extensible rods 64 pressing downwardly on the beams 56 as shown in FIG. 4. Extension of the rod 64 will, of course result in elevation of the hull 6 and its associated tubular body 10.

The manner of using the disclosed apparatus will be evident from the foregoing description. When a flood is threatening or has occurred, an appropriate number of the hulls 6 are placed downstream of the endangered area either by towing them from a storage location on the river or by launching them at their intended point of use. The hulls are then placed in their side-by-side nested relationship across the stream and their transoms 16 are lowered so that the water will flow through the tubular bodies 10. The flow of water beneath the hulls may take place in a downstream direction if the velocity of the stream is high enough, but not in an upstream direction when the river depth at the discharge end of the tubes exceeds that at their entrance end due to the presence of the transoms 16. The impellers are operated to force water in a donwstream direction away from the flooded area. If the area downstream of the nest of bulls 6 approaches flood level, the impellers may be stopped or their speed regulated in order to provide some degree of control over the location of the flood.

The mobility and operating flexibility of this apparatus permits some selection as to where flooding occurs so that the apparatus may be placed immediately downstream of a city and operated to flood a rural area in order to minimize the urban damage caused by the flood.

There are many variations from the disclosed and preferred embodiment which fall within the spirit of my invention. For example, a single hull may support two or more of the tubular bodies 10. The tubular bodies may be mounted on wheels which ride in trackways leading to the center of a waterway, with a storage building for the devices being provided in the vicinity of the water- 2. Apparatus according to claim 1 having endless power transmission members interconnecting said drive means and said impellers.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein each of the tubular bodies has a second impeller located therewithin for propelling water therethrough, said second impellers being rotatable concentrically with their associated said first impellers and having an open central portion and an outside diameter greater than that of their associated said first impellers.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 having means for vertically adjusting the position of the tubular bodies in a waterway.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1 having a hull-like body' connected to each said tubular body and havlng sufficient buoyancy to floatably support the associated said tubular body.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5 having means for I securing each of the hull-like bodies in position in a Way. The hull structure which supports the tubular bodies 10 may also include self-contained propulsion means for moving it from one location to another. Although it is preferred to use a number of the tubular bodies, it will be apparent that even a single one placed in a waterway will promote the downstream flow of water in order to avoid or minimize the harmful effects of flooding. These and other substitutions for the disclosed apparatus will provide many of the advantages which are attributable to the invention claimed hereinbelow.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for flood prevention comprising a plurality of open-ended tubular bodies located in parallel side-byside orientation in a waterway, barrier means for obstructing the flow of water outside the tubular bodies in the area lying between the surface of the water and the floor of the waterway, a plurality of first impellers each having a discharge side aligned with an associated said tubular body and being supported on the associated said tubular body for rotation about an axis oriented longitudinally with respect to the associated tubular body, and drive means for rotating the impellers to force water through their associated tubular bodies; whereby said apparatus may be used to impel water in a downstream direction from a flooded area.

waterway.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 having means for vertically adjusting the position of the tubular body.

8. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the barrier means includes a series of hull-like bodies, each supporting a respective said tubular body, with adjacent said hulllike bodies having adjacent surfaces lying parallel and at least in proximity to each other to prevent the flow of water therebetween.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8 wherein said barrier means also includes plates depending from said hull-like bodies to the floor of the waterway to prevent the flow of water therebeneath.

10. A method of flood abatement comprising the steps of locating a plurality of generally parallel and horizontal open-ended tubular bodies beneath the water surface in a waterway while preventing the flow of water in a direction parallel to the tubular bodies in the zones lying therebetween, and positively impelling water through the tubular bodies in a downstream direction until the water level at the downstream ends of the tubular bodies is higher than the water level at the upstream ends thereof.

11. A method according to claim 10 wherein the step of locating the tubular bodies in a waterway includes the step of moving a plurality of buoyant structures which support the tubular bodies into a nested relationship in the waterway, with adjacent buoyant structures having mutually conforming adjacent surfaces which provide a barrier to the flow of water therebetween.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 260,793 7/1882 Shinkle 6l--2 802,534 10/1905 Swan 612 1,104,483 7/1914 Ensminger 611 1,462,151 7/1923 Seymour 4l561 3,365,178 1/1968 Bood 61-l X 3,373,821 3/1968 Sare 61-1 X JACOB SHAPIRO, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 41561, 221