Some dams have huge spillways which are just crying out to be used for some sort of entertaining sport. Canoeing has already been tried (see link) but I think there is real potential to learn surfing on dam spillways. To simulate surfing on the face of a wave you'd need the water to flow uphill. So, to do this on a dam spillway you'd have to build a concrete hump across the width of the spillway and the surfer would surf on the dam side of the hump, facing towards the dam. Water would race down the spillway and over the hump, producing the 'wave face', and the surfer would stay in one place (until they made a mistake and the force of water washed them over the hump and down the spillway to oblivion).-- hippo, Sep 07 2004 A dam spillway, with canoe http://www.ukrivers...uk/tywidamslide.htm [hippo, Oct 04 2004] A stationary wave for surfing... http://the.honolulu...ug/14/ln/ln07a.html...so it should be possible to build this into a spillway. [st3f, Oct 04 2004] "Surfin' the Spillway" http://jim.rees.org/happy-hour/A CD with a doctored photo showing people surfing a dam spillway, but not quite in the way I suggested. [hippo, Oct 04 2004] The X treme sports fans out there will be up in arms, but a net down from the hump could get rid of the oblivion part. +-- Lacus Trasumenus, Sep 07 2004 I thought about spillway surfing a while back, but my plans would have been to alter the gate/valve from the reservoir to be able to throw big waves down the spillway. [+] for a better idea than mine.-- st3f, Sep 07 2004 [st3f] "Dam spillway" beats "Dam slipway" on Google by 6,990 to 4, so I think you're right.-- hippo, Sep 07 2004 Interesting... lol very fun sounding, just don't know what a slipsaawy is... @.@
Is the slip way the place like in hoover dam where those giant roller looking things are?
This reminds me of a couple VERY horrifyingly scary dream I've had.
1. So I'm at this camp (with the boy scouts no less) and there's this lake and a dam and this boy falls in! then gets pulled way out towards this dams intakes (scary part 1) then I jump in to save him and then I get stuck in the pull (scary part 3) then another older boy scout jumps in and swims towards us.
Then we get sucked down into the dams intake where we spin around and go down and down and somehow survive. Then we come across this giant water area (where physics are somehow void to all reality) where we get pushed down the river and there's this other intake that goes uderground, And never comes out again. Fortunately we miss the intake and go UP a side river going literally UP against gravity.
Then it takes us around this little island of trees and brush we try to grab hold but miss and it circles arund and dumps us BACK in the intake river where we miss and go UP again I grab a branch and climb aboard the island then they come back around (they missed) and I bend a branch down to help them and the the first kid gets on the island but the older one pulls us back in and we get pulled toward this other dam where we get sucked down underground into a water sewer (not public, just a water flowage). Then we go through a maze of tunnels and come out at this intersection with two grates and an opening overhead. The others somehow get up there and reach their hands down to help me up, and I climb this one grate then (REALLY SCARY part) it flips! And I'm trapped on the other side in another tunnel! with a small bit of water going through and it's labeled "river city flowage" (ultimate scary part) and there's all these kids on this side and I ask how do we get out and they say " YOU CAN'T".
2. Well this one is kind of stupid and not so scary but at the time it was really scary but now I look back and it's kind of dumb.
I think crazy thoughts when I'm tired.
:EDIT: lol I just saw the link, lol NOW I know...
Dang my posts are long... People say I talk to much...
ACK! Aliens!-- EvilPickels, Sep 07 2004 random, halfbakery