Model‐Determined Design Load on Actuator Cover Plate

Abstract

A 1:16‐scale hydraulic model of the actuator cover‐plate assembly of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Lock ice‐flushing system in the St. Lawrence River, operated by St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, U.S. Department of Transportation, Massena, New York, is used to obtain basic design loads for a new assembly design. The ice‐flushing bypass system was originally installed in 1981 in the existing filling and emptying culvert. The model investigation includes tests of two basic layouts of the cover‐plate assembly that failed in the prototype and the determination of preferable configurations based on the measured live‐load pressures. The investigation reveals potential for cavitation damage due to extremely high velocities in the main culvert of the lock. The investigation also provides useful engineering data for redesigning the actuator cover‐plate assembly. The new prototype assembly has not experienced any problems in the past seven years.