Safety in Ice: Boom and Curtain Care
Keep your boom or curtain out of stormy weather or icy to prevent damage
Carefully monitoring your boom or turbidity curtain is integral to maximum
performance and successful results. One important aspect of monitoring is knowing when to remove a boom or curtain due to inclement weather. Keeping a close eye on weather conditions can help you avoid project
or system failure and prevent damage. (See all booms and barriers)
Winter conditions can be a particular problem. In a colder climate, never leave your boom or turbidity curtain in place during the winter months. Ice can cause the PVC fabric to rip particularly the curtain's skirt or break free from floats and anchoring, causing serious failure. Large floating chunks of ice hitting fabric barriers will destroy the product.
When the shallow water begins to freeze, this is an alert that trouble is imminent: You should mobilize your workforce to remove the curtain or boom as soon as possible. But don't wait for this to happen. Keep an eye out for any changes in the weather that may put your solutions at risk of failure and damage. Be sure to have a plan in advance of this happening. Storm surge, excessive high-speed winds, extreme weather systems, hurricanes and other major events are dangerous, unsuitable conditions for boom or curtain to remain on location.
Questions? We can help! Call our team at 1-772-646-0597 or submit a form.
Remove your boom, along with its floats and anchors when icy conditions are on the horizon. Turbidity curtain can be more challenging. Even in favorable weather, it can be difficult to remove a curtain without damaging it. During the deployment, the curtain handles more easily because of its furled state. But once unfurled, it can be extremely cumbersome. These problems are greatly compounded in icy conditions.
Use of factory-installed reefing lines can greatly reduce removal times, providing efficient furling points along the skirts.
Be sure the personnel are thoroughly trained in handling turbidity curtain or boom during retrieval operations, especially in inclement conditions. Have a well laid-out plan, observe safety precautions, and keep a close eye on the weather.