Flood defences
At the launch of Future flood prevention, a report calling for changes to flood management in England to tackle the rising threat posed by climate change, Neil Parish, Conservative MP for Tiverton and Honiton, said, "Some five million people in England are at risk of flooding. Winter 2015-16 broke rainfall records. Storms Desmond, Eva and Frank disrupted communities across northern parts of the UK, with Desmond alone costing the UK more than £5 billion.
Flood defences are used to prevent or control the potential negative effects of flood waters. Traditional methods of flood defence, such as the planting of vegetation to retain water and constructing channels (floodways), have been used throughout history. More modern flood defences can include:
- Dams.
- Diversion canals.
- Floodplains and groundwater replenishment.
- River defences, e.g. levees, bunds, reservoirs, weirs, and so on.
- Coastal defences, e.g. groynes, sea walls, revetments, gabions, and so on.
- Retention ponds.
- Moveable gates and barriers.
Temporary flood defences are systems that can be brought to specific problem sites to provide flood defence as required. They can then be removed until needed again, either at the same or a different location. They have no fixed foundation other than the ground on which they are based with perhaps minor pre-prepared modifications to ensure proper stability or performance of the equipment.
They might include:
Temporary barriers generally do provide the same level of protection as permanent defences and typically have failure rates of 20-30%, although this can be reduced by good advanced planning.
For more information see: Temporary flood defences.
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
Featured articles and news
Specifying rendered external wall insulation for fire safety
How to interrogate the evidence provided to the specifier.
The benefits of writing articles for your organisation
How to create a profile for your organisation and publish for free.
No Falls Week. The importance of safe working at height
What to expect and what is on offer to avoid accidents.
Scottish Government action to reach net-zero targets
Retrofit expert group highlight critical actions needed.
A forward thinking, inclusive global community of members.
From engineered product life-spans, to their extension.
Circular economy in the built environment
A brief description from 2021. Where are we now?
Mental Health Awareness Week with ABS
Architects Benevolent Society programme of activity.
CLC publishes domestic retrofit competency framework
Roadmap of Skills for net zero.
May 13-19: Moving more for our mental health.
Understanding is key to conservation.
Open industry engagement survey seeks responses
Institutions and the importance of engagement.
National Retrofit Hub unveils new guide
Digital Building Logbooks and Retrofit: An Introduction.
Enhancing construction site reporting efficiency
Through digitisation and the digital revolution.
Comments