A huge benefit of the NoFloods Mobile Barrier system is that the
mobile dam can be deployed very quickly.
"It takes around 16 man hours to deploy a one-kilometre dam,
which can hold off at least 80 centimetres of flood water. This
corresponds to only a fraction of the resources required to deploy
sand bags along the same stretch. In other words, we use only 16
man hours and a single lorry, whereas it takes 7,000 man hours, 149
lorries as well as 2,500 cubic meters of sand to deploy sand bags;
a task which has proven unrealistic on many occasions," said Anders
Philipsen, who is managing director of Environment Solutions which
started developing the NoFloods Mobile Barrier in 1999.
Anders Philipsen points out that the mobile dams are also a
cheaper and more effective alternative to other solutions, such as
lowering roads so that they can serve as channels or sewer
extensions.
"These are very expensive solutions which can be difficult to
finance. With our product, public emergency response services, and
others who want to safeguard against excessive water, can rapidly
relocate dams to areas under threat," he said.
Environment Solutions has just extended its contract with the
French emergency response service Sécurité Civile by an additional
four years up to 2017. As a client, Sécurité Civile has been active
in the development of the NoFloods Mobile Barrier system since
2005.