Damming

I would like to devote a whole page to damming! It’s a great use of time with limited resources and can be done all over the world, from a beach in the Dominican Republic to low tide on Skeggy beach or a mountain stream on Mull; Hoover Dam anyone!

My first memory of damming was on the Isle of Wight in a place called Wheelers Bay, I was about 6 or 7, and a small stream came under a walkway through a pipe flowing into a small river across the beach towards the sea. The first effort was to use sand and simply pile it up in front of the relative torrent, firstly in a line and as the relentless flow escapes around the side, making it into a croissant shape, which is soon extended into a horseshow dam. This is then Stage 1 simple dam, and only lasts for a short time until the main wall fails – it’s great for kids and beginners but there’s only one winner and that’s gravity and the massive force of nature! Rather this way then the dammers nemesis the ‘dam breaker’!!!

Stage 2 of this project involves using other media and stronger material. A polly bag, bricks, wood, rocks, stones, car tyres, anything more impervious to water then sand! Also the use of a spade or similar can be incorporated into Stage 2. The sense of achievement is only felt when the flow down stream ceases or the water level upstream rises.

There are far more dammers and dam breakers out there than is believable, and to test this theory build a small dam on a small stream that’s been left where the tide has gone out on a sandy beach and left a little lake behind a sand bank, this way the source is always shrinking so can be contained, not like the Stage 1 dam above which has an endless supply so will always overwhelm the dam. When the job is done, and it can take some time, retreat away but still in eyeshot of the project then either three things will happen….
1. F**k all!
2. The tide comes in and f**ks the dam from the other side
3. Some f**ka comes along, looks at the project and destroys the water retention system (DAM), this is a breaker! Although he may then decide that he was wrong and try to repair said structure to its former glory (this is a breaker with a conscience) or a kebab with no chilli sauce!

Please contact me if you are witness to any of the above.

When building a dam you may be surprised how many kids – young or old – will try to assist in your project!

As I said at top of the page, there are many types of dams and there are also subcategories. It’s important to choose a scale of dam that is practical, points to consider are : water flow rate (WFR), total dam area (TDA), materials on hand (MOH), and the angle of decent (AOD), there are more but it gets f**king confusing. If the WFR, TDA and AOD are all high, you will need shit loads of MOH’s unless you have MHMLW…many hands etc…… There are exceptions to this rule, for example, if time is short or the rest of the party wonder what the f**k you’re doing, a plank of wood placed straight into the flow of a narrow channel will have the instant effect!

To be continued....

TJ

.......I have found the best all round tool is the army fold up spade (FUS), they cost about £4-£5 from army surplus. I think they were designed to dig small trenches for soldiers to sleep/hide, they are both strong and the perfect length for digging on ya knees. The tool will shame and out live any of the seaside specials made of plastic or wood and red metal. But be warned there not for kids as can be quite sharp.

So back to damming, if you are struggling to stem the main flow, try to open up a smaller tributary which will ease the pressure and enable the main dam to be completed. Another ace style of dam is the hole on the beach or a reverse dam; choose somewhere within the high tide mark and the excitement of getting swamped is most exhilarating. Once you’ve chosen your area dig, putting the slag (?) on the sea side of the hole and remember the hole needs to be the size of a grave, so even when it’s deep you can stand in it and dig. There’s nothing more demoralising then making it bigger later because you can’t get in the hole (does that sound rude or is it just me!!). That’s why graves are they are, a 2 foot square hole that’s 7 foot deep that is perfect for a body and requires less earth movement (LEM) but would be a bastard to dig (BTD) and not as comfy! Don’t stop until the water has reached or if someone asks if you fancy picking cockles (PC). To end, get yourself a FUS, find a site that’s not a BTD and which requires LEM so it’s safer than PC!!

TJ

This page was last modified on 05 June 2007 20:56