Case Study
Bubble Curtain achieves 90% aeration levels and limits silt during bank works
Construction, Infrastructure & DevelopmentClient
BAM
Location
River Don
Objective
Bank restoration and flood defence works
Challenge
Urgent repairs to eroding bank walls along the river which could pose a flood risk to nearby homes
The challenge
Urgent repairs were identified by the Environment Agency’s Incident Response team to eroding bank walls along the river which could pose a flood risk to nearby homes.
There were a number of challenging factors for BAM to consider on this project in addition to the environmental risks of carrying out construction activity near water, including a canal running adjacent to the river as well as site access limitations. Construction traffic and materials had to be transported along a narrow corridor strip of land stretching 3km between the two waterways.
The Solution
Our Technical Team designed a solution that used Bubble Tubing® technology to provide highly effective emergency aeration to increase dissolved oxygen levels to mitigate fish deaths from the impact of construction in the riverbed.
While aeration was BAM’s primary concern, the bubble curtain gave an added layer of protection from oil spills, silt segregation and particles moving outside of the works zone. The curtain was placed 10m upstream of the works to allow the bubbles to flow downstream to maintain high oxygen levels.
Key features of the Bubble Curtain system include:
Reliable innovation
A self-purging design coupled with a five year warranty, Bubble Curtains provide our customers with a reliable and cost-effective low energy and low maintenance solution.
Mobile and easy to use
Easy to transport and install – and if not used as a permanent solution, they can be reused for other temporary works.
Dual purpose technology
Bubble Curtains & Barriers have wide application ranging from underwater noise control to silt management, abstraction protection, inlet protection, litter and weed prevention and emergency aeration. They can be scaled to suit the length of the works being undertaken.
The results
Highly effective aerator
Aeration prevents fish kill and helps maintain water quality health during temporary river works.
Mobile and easy to use
A Bubble Curtain is easy to transport and install – on this particular project – a double 30m line was designed for use and moved as the works progressed along the bank.
Versatile design
As well as aerating the entire water column, the Bubble Curtain helped prevent silt created by bank disturbance works from flowing downstream and causing silt pollution.
Resilient and trustworthy
The Bubble Curtain was described as ‘resilient’ by the team at BAM who experienced flood events during the works with the technology remaining in the water.
Feedback from Brett Holmes, BAM Nuttall Site Agent
“The Bubble Curtain has been a gamechanger for our rivers network and has become an internal success story.
“It’s an incredible bit of kit which is so easy to use and is highly effective – our dissolved oxygen readings never fell below 90% when the curtain was in operation. It gave us instant control and best of all, once installed, it’s as simple as turning it on and off at the flick of a switch!
“Thanks to the specialist support given by Frog Environmental’s Technical Team in design and planning, we got it right the first time.
“We have used them five times since the River Don project as they were so successful. They’re about to be deployed again on another incident response scheme.”
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