BoatBuster®

Spillway, Tailrace, & Low Head Dam Safety Barriers

BoatBuster® - The boat barrier designed for high flow, turbulent tailrace, spillway, and run of river conditions.

  • BOATBUSTER® Public Safety Boat Barriers come in 3 sizes; big and really big. These barrel style floats are designed for the tough operating conditions below spillways and flood gates, below hydroelectric dams in tailrace locations and above dams on rivers where high flows are encountered.

    Unlike typical barrel floats, BoatBuster’s unique half-shell design allows these floats to be used as standalone units or in multiple configuration for vertical mooring buoys or as accessory floats for larger floating debris skimmers, fish guidance systems, and walkway barriers.

  • - Shackle-Free Connections (no more shackle failures!)

    - Alloy chain interconnections.

    - Heavy-wall impact resistant polyethylene with max. UV resistance.

    - Unsinkable solid internal core of non-water absorbing foam fill. Maintains buoyancy even when punctured.

    - High load bearing internal steel member provides strength and ballast, resists horizontal and vertical loads.

    - 15 to 20-year design life.

    - Fusion Permanent Graphics™ with standard or customized warnings.

    - Standard Color: Safety Yellow. Also available in International Orange, Log Boom Brown, Forest Green, and others.

    - High Visibility, high buoyancy for maximum freeboard visibility.

  • - Part No.: BB3648

    - Diameter: 91.4cm (36.4in)

    - Length: 122cm (48in)

    - Weight (dry): 102 kgs (225lbs)

    - Buoyancy: 680kgs (1500lbs)

    - Freeboard: 73cm (29in)

    - Design Strength: 74,000kgs (163kips)

    - Internal Construction: 101mm (4in) steel tube

    - EPS Foam Fill

    - Wall Thickness (nom): 6mm (0.250in)

    - Material: LLDPE

    - Color: FS13655 Yellow

  • - Part No.: BB4872

    - Diameter: 122cm (48in)

    - Length: 183cm (72in))

    - Weight (dry): 253kgs (558lbs)

    - Buoyancy: 907kgs (2000lbs)

    - Freeboard: 101cm (40in)

    - Design Strength: 83,000 kgs (183kips)

    - Internal Construction: 152.4mm (6in) steel tube

    - EPS Foam Fill

    - Wall Thickness (nom): 6mm (0.250in)

    - Material: LLDPE

    - Color: FS13655 Yellow

  • BoatBuster® floats are molded in a half-shell design allowing them to be used for dock-floats, in mooring buoys and anchor floats, boat-gates, slider-beams to accommodate fluctuating water levels, and in a variety of customized configurations

The waters below spillways and in hydroelectric powerplant tailraces are no places for boaters.  When water is spilling, the aerated effect swamps boats.  Boils zones literally pull boats upstream and suck them in.  Boats are unable to escape these areas resulting in injury and drownings.  Risk managers need an effective floating safety boat barrier to prevent access to these danger zones.  BoatBuster was made specifically for use in these spillway and tailrace areas.  The highly visible, barrel style design includes an engineered internal steel axle that withstands tough operating conditions.

For headpond and run of river locations where a floating boat barrier is desired but with minimal debris retention capabilities, the BoatBuster boat barrier is a smart solution.

USE CASES

Headpond Boat Barriers

 A Fairfax County utility worker and his son thought they were in for a day of fishing on the Occoquan. But then they saw something very out of the ordinary.  As they sat at the base of the Occoquan Reservoir they saw a small fishing boat spill over the 72-foot-high reservoir dam.  Then they witnessed two men clinging to an old safety support on the top of the dam.  BoatBuster® boat barriers installed after this incident have prevented future events like this.

Boat Passage Gate

Many hydroelectric plant operators need to access the boom lines to conduct routine maintenance. The BoatBuster boat barrier is used in our boat gates to provide the high buoyancy needed to support the rigid steel understructures.

Hydroelectric Tailrace Safety Barriers

When the new $440 million 125MW powerhouse opened at Holtwood Dam in Pennsylvania, plant dam safety engineers were secure in knowing the BoatBuster downstream tailrace barrier was preventing boaters from getting too close to the dangerous, aerated waters exiting the powerhouse.

80-ft Water Level Change

Water levels fluctuate at dams and boom lines that are anchored to the dam wall or vertical cliffs need to rise fall with changing water levels. BoatBuster floats support sliders on guide beams that attach to the boom line to allow full vertical movement.

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