PUBLICATION NOTICE: Feasibility of Discontinuous Quoin Blocks for USACE Miter Gates

The US Army Engineer Research and Development Center has published the report/note described and linked below. Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

Report Number:

ERDC TR-19-16

Title:

Feasibility of Discontinuous Quoin Blocks for USACE Miter Gates

Author(s):

Brian A. Eick, Matthew D. Smith, and Travis B. Fillmore

Purpose/Abstract:

Navigation lock chambers have gates that act both as damming surfaces for water and as doorways for vessels to enter and exit. Miter gates are by far the most common type of lock gate in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers inventory. Horizontally framed miter gates are designed to bear continuously against the lock chamber wall along the height of the gate in the region known as the quoin. To aid continuous contact along the quoin, contact blocks are installed. Currently, each contact block is effectively one continuous piece of steel, making installation difficult and requiring the entire piece to be replaced even if only part is damaged. To address these shortcomings, this study investigated using discontinuous multiple quoin blocks instead, particularly as a retrofit option. Numerical models demonstrated the new design's stress range to be within appropriate limits, making discontinuous quoin blocks a feasible design. Supplementary results indicated issues with current placement of quoin block splices, suggesting that contact block splices should not be made in line with the centerline of girder webs as is common practice.

88 pgs / 9.2 mb

CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED

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