Written by Michael Curry Co-designer of Limno Corrals
We were contacted by an engineering company to provide a 1m diameter Limno Corral for testing water in a decommissioned open pit mine reservoir.
- The location was in Arkansas and the project manager needed to obtain data for the development of potential filtration methods for the reservoir.
- Our Limno Corrals sizes are determined by the need of the researcher who is tasked to obtain the necessary data for the environmental impact study. We offer a range of sizes from 1m – 10m in diameter with depth range of 1m – 20+m.
- This study had a few anomalies in securing the data during the test period.
- The objective was to deploy four 1m diameter Limno Corrals at different depths. I the beginning this seemed to be an easy proposition. The only problem was the heavy rainfall during hurricane season the water can rise anywhere from 2m -6m overnight. This was a deterrent to deploy fixed depth Limno Corral.
- The logistical challenges were tabled and discussed during a meeting with all stake holders. The meeting provided me the details for designing a new Limno Corral system for deploying in a unique water system.
- The new design created comprised of standard floatation on top for the sleeve suspension and a secondary float ring on the sleeve below the water. The float ring created a chimney shape preventing the bottom portion of the sleeve from collapsing.
- The other feature added was the bottom skirt had an outer rib and aluminum spokes connected to bottom poly pipe. This “wagon wheel” prevented the skirt from bunching up keeping flat to the slope of roadway prior to being underwater.
- The most critical feature in designing was the sleeve extension. The extension is fabricated on top of the fixed position of the float ring. The top sleeve looks like an accordion for collapsing and expanding as the water rises and falls. The tension cord between the poly ribs keeps constant pressure forming a cylinder.
- Another problem identified during the meeting reviewing design was water displacement. When sleeve rises upward, how do you prevent the sleeve from collapsing? I introduced a netting at top of sleeve for the water to move in and out as needed. This was acceptable as data collection was at the very bottom between 12 – 18m deep
- The deployment was successful in data collection and rising to challenge during in a rainstorm without ay harm to the Limno Corral integrity.
