STATIONARY WATERWORKS’ FOULING

The stationary naval and river waterworks are mostly prone to the fouling and biological contamination.

Mooring constructions’ and nautical barriers’ fouling increases their windage, resulting in abrupt increase of the wave loadings resistance, and, finally, adversely impacts their mechanical strength and increases the failure likelihood .

Operating power stations and other facilities using sea water in their cooling systems, becomes impossible in some cases, due to the fouling by the salt water sedentary organisms. Fouling of the submarine acoustical devices like echo depth finders, rangers, communication devices results in their sensitivity decrease, up to the failure.

Pound net and mariculture plant fouling with the mollusks, algae and shells increases their weight, often making them completely inoperable. Besides, the fouling organisms may become the food competitors for the organisms being planted.

Thick fouling does not allow to conduct timely inspection of the hazardous deficiencies appearing in the bridge footings and other under- and over-water located waterworks. It becomes impossible to reveal deficiencies like cracks of constructions, active corrosion/erosion areas appearance of the damaged and destroyed elements, without cleaning, since they are hidden by the entire fouling blanket.

All the waterworks are prone to adverse fouling. Since the fouling bio mass may comprise several tenths of kilograms per square meter, additional weight of it is measured in tons, and thus results in significant increase of weight, wave resistance, metallic and cement concrete constructions’ erosion/corrosion, and, finally, in a likelihood of a mechanical failure and emergency situations.