A sluice gate is a mechanism used to control water flow. These devices are often used in water treatment plants, mining, dams, rice fields, and cranberry bogs, among other places. The gates are typically made of wood or metal, and often slide vertically on a frame to open or close, allowing water to flow out of a space or to be contained in it. For this reason, they are also known as asluice gate valve.
Sluice gate design is not only limited to a vertical sliding system, however. One kind of sluice gate acts like a flap and is moved by water pressure being greater on one side than the other. Others are even cylindrical in nature.
The word sluice indicates a man-made channel or modified natural waterway that conducts water. This kind of gate regulates how and where that water is moved. This is especially useful for controlling flooding or water levels in farming and other industries.
Many sluice gates are moved by means of a threaded rod system, which needs to be regularly cleaned and greased. Often, when these gates are used in applications with a large amount of water pressure, such as dams, they are raised and lowered by hydraulic systems to control the sluice gate flow. Sometimes in smaller uses, such as in cranberry bogs, the gates are raised and lowered manually. At other times, an electrically-driven hoisting system is used.
