Loughborough University

Prior to the design of the traversable boom at Loughborough University, booms had been installed in the UK that had taken up to 30 minutes to move 25m. A brief for the traversable boom was agreed that the movement time should be a maximum time of 15 minutes. In order to achieve this a number of specific design criteria were incorporated into the system, including:

• a high level of perforation of both sides of the boom
• opening gates at either end of the boom
• elevation of the boom off the floor by approximately 200mm during movement
• dropping of the movable floor under the boom to provide for increased water flow area

The commissioning of the boom demonstrated that the traversable boom could be moved a distance of 25m in a time as short as 8 minutes.

The water treatment system is specifically designed to cater for the bather loads planned for this centre of excellence – this has resulted in lower capital and lower operating costs.