An Evaluation of Water Jetting For Bureau of Reclamation Use in Cleaning Concrete Dam Foundation Drains

High pressure water jetting with pump pressures of 10,000 to 25,000 pounds/square inch, and ultra-high pressure water jetting with pump pressures up to about 35,000 (and sometimes as high as 60,000) pounds/square inch, have been used for many industrial and construction applications in recent years. The technology has developed from the Russian invention of a water cannon that could fracture hard rock in 1937, to hand held water blasting equipment for cleaning surfaces in the 1950's, to the use of abrasives and improved pump pressures for concrete removal in the 1960's, to later improvements including even higher pressures, remotely operated equipment, hole boring, rotating heads, waste water collection systems, and increased removal rates and thus lower costs.