With flood events hitting coastal U.S. regions at an ever-increasing rate, water and wastewater utilities stand to benefit from long-term, proactive flood-prevention solutions that can withstand multiple disaster events. Easy to assemble, unintrusive and built with long-term flood-prevention in mind, Portadam’s FloodDefender perimeter barriers can protect critical water infrastructure in crucial moments during flood events, before being packed up until the next disaster strikes.
“In a pinch, if a wastewater treatment facility knows a problem is coming, they can deploy 150 linear feet extremely fast, in an hour with four people,” says Rich Kenny, business developer for FloodDefender. “And then when it’s done, it stores away compactly, and it will last decades.”
Following Hurricane Katrina, Portadam’s original cofferdam unit (which shares the same name as the company) was tested by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in their search for a more efficient and cost-friendly alternative to sandbagging. Since then, Portadam created the FloodDefender was based on feedback obtained from the Army Corps to develop an on-land flood-prevention barrier that is rapidly deployable, volunteer-friendly, tool-free and doesn’t require ground penetration.
FloodDefender became commercially available last summer in the public infrastructure market, including the municipal sewer and water sector.
“When you think about treatment plants, our system not requiring any ground penetration means you don’t have to worry about hitting pipes,” Kenny says.
The FloodDefender is specially engineered to balance long-term durability with easy temporary assembly. Main frames and link bars made of galvanized steel beams are slotted together to create a 4-foot-tall A-frame barrier across a 150-foot perimeter, coming together to divert floodwater from infrastructure using hydrostatic pressure. All the parts neatly fit in a compact stackable crate that can be transported via trailer.
“Those racks can be stacked three high, so you could have 450 linear feet of protection in a 6-by-4-foot blueprint,” Kenny says. “It could surround your entire facility if you want that kind of protection.”
In addition, Kenny says the link bars are designed to be flexible, which enables the FloodDefender to curve and round corners in custom configurations. And, if that’s not flexible enough for a particular use case, Portadam sells corner systems.
Since every water district has individual needs, Portadam’s team works with communities to find the optimal flood-prevention solution, performing a flood-risk analysis on-site followed by a virtual site survey.
“It’s a process that we go about meticulously to make sure it is the right solution for their particular location,” he says. “So far, it’s been very, very well received.” 908-635-6969; www.portadam.com
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