Wind Turbine Generators

Flood defence and combating flooding has been a preoccupation with mankind ever since the earliest hunter gatherers settled next to rivers and began farming. Flooding is an unfortunate by-product of our dependence on water and over the years a myriad of different methods of preventing flooding have been introduced with varying levels of success.

However, over the last century, some of the most ambitious and large scale flood defence schemes in history have been built to combat the constant threat that flood waters still pose to our villages, towns and cities that are built near rivers and seas.

Perhaps the largest and most elaborate flood defence schemes in history can be found in Holland and the Netherlands. Much of the Netherlands is built on reclaimed land from the sea, and for centuries the Dutch have been trying to prevent the sea claiming it back. Their most famous landmarks, the windmills were built for just such a purpose, however after the North Sea caused terrible flooding in 1953, the Dutch built the Delta Works, a series of 13 ambitious dams, the largest being the 9 kilometre Oosterscheldedam.

In London, the Thames Estuary has caused awful flooding in the past which led to the building of the Thames Barrier throughout the 1970’s and 80’s – it is one of the world’s largest moveable flood barriers that spans nearly half a mile.

Some large scale flood defence schemes have, despite huge cost, proved expensive failures. One such scheme is the hundreds of miles of levees and flood gates that were meant to protect New Orleans from flooding. However, after the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina, it was obvious the system failed dramatically.

These large scale flood defences are only a small part of how most areas defend against flooding. One of the most common flood defences still in use is the common-or-garden sandbag which are nearly always deployed in times of rising sea water.

However, even the humble sandbag has had a twenty-first century makeover. Instant sandbags are now available that inflate with just water, doing away for the need for all that sand and the logistical headaches that it brings.

Unlike traditional sandbags that can take hours to fill, instant sandbags fill up in minutes, which means they can be stored flat and only taken out when needed – rather than having to fill traditional sandbags days in advance.

Richard N Williams is a technical author and  is interested in flood defence and writes about it. If you are interested in flood defence products such as instant sandbags please contact us
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Tags: Wind, Windmill