Korean company Yooil engineering offered to invest US$100 million to build rubber dams in Pakistan to solve it water and power crisis. The company claims that the dams will be finished in five months—a tenth of the time it takes to build concrete dams.
According to The Nation, Yooil engineering offered Water Supply Package which includes the construction of rubber dams, water purification system and hydropower generation, the source maintained.
The company made the offer in a briefing to the Planning Commission of Pakistan. The briefing was attended by the Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal, provincial representatives, and other officials.
Though rubber is traditionally known for its soft and flexible properties, it can have great strength too when reinforced with nylon and inflated with air.
A rubber dam is a movable barrier installed across river, of which inflatable rubber bladders are installed on a concrete foundation. The rubber dam can be laid on the horizontal base of the concrete foundation which is used for fixing the sheets of rubber. The rubber dam thickness depends on the height of the reservoir and varies from 9.5 mm to 25 mm.
A rubber dam can be up to 18 feet and higher and its life is 30 to 40 years with a 10-year warranty. The company offered to the transfer of the rubber dam technology to Pakistan, a source informed The Nation.
Rubber dams on existing canal system can help in capacity enhancement; hydro power generation, drinking water supply and extension of irrigation channels. The project also offers quick power generation opportunities in AJK, Balochistan, KPK and Northern Areas. The hydropower dam guarantees the supply of cheap electricity to the people of the area and a 5-year payback period, of the dam construction cost, through revenues from the electricity.
“With the price of one metro we can build rubber dams throughout the Punjab province” a local representative of the Yooil engineering claimed. “We don’t need anything from the government of Pakistan, except their readiness to sign an MOU and help in land acquisition for the dam site,” a company representative said.
The company is still waiting for the Pakistani government’s approval.