Hydraulic and earth engineering – Fluid control – treatment – or containment – Flow control
Reexamination Certificate
2003-06-03
2004-04-20
Lagman, Frederick L. (Department: 3673)
Hydraulic and earth engineering
Fluid control, treatment, or containment
Flow control
C405S118000, C405S270000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06722818
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention pertains generally to transportation of water. More particularly, the new and useful invention claimed in this document pertains to a ditch liner system for conveying water through irrigation ditches. The present invention is particularly, but not exclusively, useful for providing both an apparatus and method for conveying water through concrete lined earthen ditches. The present invention also is useful for directing water flow into other ditches, from interconnected ditch liner sections. The present invention is also useful for reducing water loss during transportation of water through the system of ditch liners practiced in accordance with the present invention. The present invention also is useful for routing water by inverting a series of the ditch liners.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Ditches formed in earth for conveying water to a point or area of use have been common for generations throughout the world. Ditches have been used to transport both potable and irrigation water. Earthen irrigation ditches continue to be significant transporters of water, particularly to convey surface irrigation water to crops. As used in this document, the term “ditch” includes any excavation dug in the earth that also may be referred to as a drain, channel, canal or acequia. Earthen ditches, relying on principles of gravity flow to transport water along descending elevations of a ditch, continue to be popular because they provide low-cost irrigation systems.
Since the advent of concrete and other building materials made by mixing a cementing material such as Portland cement with both a mineral aggregate such as sand and gravel, and sufficient water to cause the cementing material to set and bind the entire mass, concrete and similar materials have been used to line earthen ditches. A purpose of concrete lined ditches was to avoid loss of water through seepage into the earth. As use of concrete and similar materials increased, it became common to shape the cross-section of earthen ditches in a substantially trapezoidal configuration. Accordingly, the concrete used to line earthen ditches tends to be trapezoidal in cross-section as well.
Concrete, however, has several limitations and deficiencies as a liner for earthen ditches. Material characteristics of concrete are not consistent, and usually are not even consistent within the same ditch. Concrete ditch liners also react adversely to changes in ambient temperatures, and to rapidly altering hot and cold cycles. Concrete is subject to cracking due to temperature changes. If moisture penetrates cracks in concrete, a concrete lined ditch is subject to further cracking. Slight cracks have a tendency to expand into large cracks as frost and thaw cycles proceed through a typical year. In the end, concrete lined ditches are subject to possible catastrophic failure. As a result, significant amounts of water may be lost when transported through concrete lined ditches. The significant quantities of lost water, which is becoming an ever more precious commodity, are lost because of seepage, erosion, trans-evaporation and other causes. However, concrete lines ditches are peculiarly susceptible to cracking, decomposition, and the ultimate loss of significant amounts of water due to seepage through cracked concrete lined ditches.
Additional limitations of concrete lined ditches are significant. Not only are large quantities of water lost through seepage caused by cracks, breaks, and other forms of deterioration in concrete lined ditches, but concrete lined ditches must constantly be maintained, cleaned and repaired to avoid further loss of water through wall collapse, accumulated debris, newly formed cracks and deterioration of the base and walls of concrete due to the continued effects of weather. Repair and maintenance of concrete lined ditches is costly and labor intensive. Patching concrete is expensive, labor intensive, and difficult to achieve given the remote location of most ditches, particularly agricultural ditches used to transport irrigation water. The repair problems associated with concrete lined ditches present major construction efforts that often are neither practical nor affordable. Therefore, many concrete ditches continue to deteriorate, resulting in increased loss of water. Inability to readily direct and redirect water flow to other ditches or in other directions using concrete or steel also is a significant limitation on their use.
In recent years, efforts have been made to develop ways and means to seal cracked concrete lined ditches. For example, a variety of mortars and sprayed-on resins and plastics have been suggested. Unfortunately, both mortar and spray-on resins and plastics have proven to be inadequate solutions because of the costs involved in the materials and applications processes, and because of labor costs associated with direct application of such materials at the site of a concrete lined ditch, regular often remote from where such materials are available.
Concrete is expensive to install. Although concrete appears to be substantially permanent, as indicated, it is subject to deterioration. Removing a cracked concrete ditch liner is inordinately expensive, time consuming, and labor intensive.
What is needed, therefore, is an insert that can be placed into a concrete lined ditch that is easily installed, without heavy equipment, and is cost effective. What also is needed is a ditch liner system that may be inserted into a concrete lined ditch regardless of the extent of cracks, disintegration or other deterioration in a concrete ditch, and that directs water with minimal water loss through the ditch liner system.
An exemplary solution to problems associated with lining earthen ditches was provided by one of the present inventors in U.S. Pat. No. 6,273,640 B1, issued to Kenneth L. Suazo on Aug. 14, 2001 (“Suazo Patent”). The Suazo Patent provided an irrigation ditch liner system comprising a plurality of liner sections that are semi-cylindrical in shape and employ a sem-cylindrical connector piece to connect liner sections along the course of a ditch. Another exemplary solution to problems associated with lining earthen ditches is provided in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/316,756 filed by two of the present inventors on Dec. 11, 2002, for An Apparatus And Method For Transporting Water (“Suazo Application”), which adds significantly to the art.
To appreciate the additional advantages of the present invention, it is important to appreciate the significant distances that an interconnected system of liner sections may traverse in a field environment during use and operation of the present invention. Ditch lengths exceeding five thousand feet are not uncommon. In many field environments, the rate at which water flows through a ditch also is significant. Frequently, a ditch master, or similar official, notifies a property owner when water for irrigation has been released upstream. It thereafter becomes the responsibility of the ditch owner to secure the allotment of water before it passes downstream.
It also should be appreciated that loss of water due to cracked, crumbling, and disintegrating concrete lined ditches, commonly referred to as “seepage loss,” maybe considerable. Adjacent tree roots also may crack and disintegrate concrete lined ditches.
The present invention seeks to reduce or eliminate water loss associated with concrete lined ditches.
Further optimizations in connection with the Suazo Patent and the Suazo Application may be achieved as provided in connection with the present invention by providing alternative features and elements desirable for increasing the range and variety of differing applications and environments in which the present invention may be used. As indicated, a previously unaddressed need exists for a new, useful and improved ditch liner system that may be installed in concrete lined ditches, particularly a system that is easy to install, lightweight, will transport water efficiently at larger than customary flow rates while also reducing l
Suazo Isaac
Suazo Kenneth L.
Fast Ditch, Inc.
Lagman Frederick L.
Regan Ray R.
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