
High concentrations of river debris overwhelmed 316(b)-compliant intake screens at the East River Generating Station in New York city during severe storms in 2014 and 2015, causing irreparable damage to two recently installed screens. In both cases, it appeared that the surge of debris quickly blocked the 0.6 mm fine mesh screens and the differential rose beyond the maximum design static differential of eight feet, even though the screens were operating at their top speed, the system was unable to clear the rapidly accumulating debris. Within a short period of time, the weight of the material and the force of the water caused the screens to collapse.


