answersLogoWhite

0

What are Locks and Dams?

Updated: 10/23/2022
User Avatar

Wiki User

15y ago

Best Answer

Some areas have too much water, some not enough, and some have both conditions at different times. Because of this irregularity, dams can be built to make water supplies more useful. Dams have many functions: diversion dams control the supply of water to prevent floods; storage dams reserve water for use during dry periods; power dams generate electricity; and navigation dams provide navigable waters. Some river areas may be unnavigable by commercial boats and barges because of shoals, rapids, waterfalls, or low water. The riverbed itself may change in elevation, which may prohibit reliable and economical navigation. Finally, some rivers have been dammed. A lock can help make navigation possible in each of these situations. The technology of locks looks complex, but the principle is simple: The river is an inclined plane whose water moves in and out of locks by gravity. Think of locks as a flight of "water stairs" going up and down a hill. Water is drained from the first lock (using gravity) until the water level is even with the second one. The downstream gate is opened to allow the vessel into the lower lock, and the process is repeated. The lifting and lowering of vessels, some weighing up to 60 tons, is done without a great use of energy. * http://www.darylscience.com/Demos/Lock-Dams.html

User Avatar

Wiki User

15y ago
This answer is:
User Avatar

Add your answer:

Earn +20 pts
Q: What are Locks and Dams?
Write your answer...
Submit
Still have questions?
magnify glass
imp
Related questions

How many locks and dams are on the Mississippi River?

there are 29 locks and dams


Does the Nile River have locks?

Dams - yes, locks - no


Why is locks and dams important?

locks are important so that bouts can go up and down hills and dams are importan to stop flooding


How many locks and dams are located on your rivers in Pittsburgh?

4,000


Did the Volga River ever have a dam?

It has many dams which are passed using locks


What are the release dates for Newton's Apple - 1983 Blood Typing Locks and Dams Moles Penguins 10-12?

Newton's Apple - 1983 Blood Typing Locks and Dams Moles Penguins 10-12 was released on: USA: 26 December 1992


What was built to raise and lower ships that pass through a canal?

Locks are built to raise and lower ships , also to control water levels, so there are some locks that also have dams nearby.


Does Mississippi River have a dam built on it?

none There are probably about 29 dams.


What infrastructure is crushed stone used for?

essential component of the U.S. infrastructure because of its use in the construction of highways, airports, river locks and dams, railroad ballast, and breakwaters.


Beginning in 1885 what structures were built in the ohio river to make it more navigatable?

Locks and dams were the structures that were built at the beginning of 1885 in the Ohio River to make it more navigable.


What is a water raising device used on rivers?

A series of Locks and Dams raise and lower water levels along a river to allow boats to pass through uneven water terrain.


Did they found a shark in the Ohio river?

While Bull Sharks have been seen in the Mississippi River as far north as Illinois, there are rare documented sightings in the Ohio River. Because of the system of dams and locks on the Ohio (21 total dams), it would be very difficult, but not impossible, for one of the rare sharks that makes it that far up the Mississippi to navigate the locks and go into the Ohio. Many of the locks are no longer in use, and sharks have been found in the Ohio River/tributaries - it's just very very rare. Latest one was September 2014 near Manchester, and it was a bull shark about a year old.