Author(s): Son Truong Hong; J. . K. Vrijling; Marcel Stive
Linked Author(s): Marcel Stive
Keywords: Sluice; Pier; Caisson; Hydraulic automatic gates; Salt intrusion
Abstract: In the Mekong Delta Vietnam, the construction of sluices with the purpose of retaining fresh water and preventing salt water intrusion potentially plays a very important role. However, the structures constructed in small rivers according to local or traditional technology revealed many disadvantages related to the economical, evacuation and ecological conditions. Hence, the demand for large sluices in the larger rivers and estuaries is increasing. In the Netherlands, several units of sluice caissons have been applied but their main function was only to permanently close the basin, while in Viet Nam only single caissons are applied as small river barriers. It is to be noted that a large discharge sluice with several caisson units has never been built so far in Vietnam or in the Netherlands. In contrast with this type of structure, most discharge sluices and barriers in the world have been built according to the “pier structure type”. In the Netherlands piers and bottom slabs are normally placed on batter pile foundations. In Viet Nam, piers are often placed on vertical pile foundations and a bottom slab is replaced by supporting beams. Both “proven structure” - caissons and piers have their own strong and weak points; by combining the best features of “proven sluice technologies” of the Netherlands and Viet Nam, appropriate structure types were designed and the most critical concerns related to them were checked. Besides, the improvements and combination of the hydraulic automatic gates and caisson sluice are also considered. The final results show that they are feasible and innovative solutions for the sluices in the large estuary branches in the Mekong Delta Vietnam, which can be applied to discharge a large amount of water, prevent tidal penetration and retain fresh water.
Year: 2013