Design of Hydraulic Gates - Tapa dura

Nobody is better qualified than Professor Paulo Erbisti to have written this book “Design of Hydraulic Gates”, because he has acquired a very broad personal experience during his career devoted to hydroelectric projects, not only with a scientific spirit, but also a practical approach. He knows very well all the phases of implementation of hydromechanical equipment, from feasibility studies through to erection and commissioning, as well as rehabilitation.

This book is extremely welcome as an efficient synthesis of a broad subject, and engineers from the various disciplines, not only mechanical and electrical but also civil engineers, will recognize its value. The author has covered the subject of gates very comprehensively in his book, from history to new developments. He discusses not only the principle of gates and their associated equipment, the choice of type and calculation methods, but also he (as an excellent practical engineer, who knows that ‘the devil hides in the details’) describes their construction details. Each chapter is supported by a complete list of international references.

The book will be very useful for experienced engineers (as well as students) for the conception, construction and operation of gates.The interest of this book is evident as a reference, and Professor Erbisti should be gratefully acknowledged for his important contribution to this technology.

Raymond Lafitte, Professor at EPFL (Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne), President of the International Hydropower Association

As one leafs through the book, one is pleasantly surprised by the many clear illustrations and photos (ca. 300), tables (ca. 70) and calculations (ca. 20). [...] On the one hand, the book – as a textbook – offers students a very clear introduction to the field and on the other hand, represents a handbook with lots of useful advice for engineers in the field of steel hydraulic engineering. Some 90 bibliographic references lead the reader to further background information, also in the realm of more theoretically oriented steel hydraulic engineering. Erbisti’s book "Design of Hydraulic Gates" is all in all a very useful and recommended book.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gerhard Schmaußer, Aalen, in Stahlbau 73 (2004), 644-646

Based on the author's extensive expertise and experience as an engineer of hydromechanical projects, this book describes the principal aspects of the design, manufacture, installation and operation of hydraulic gates. Specific topics are analysed in depth, such as the selection of the gate type, the limits of their use, estimating their weight, operative forces, hoisting systems, design of structure and support elements, seals and hydrostatic and hydrodynamic forces. The use of recent technological advances, such as inflatable gates and fusegates is discussed. The book can be used as a text-book and manual for the design of gates.  It features a number of worked examples, drawings and about 300 photographs to illustrate the concepts and methods involved, and covers several different types of gate and their support elements from a variety of applications.