Hurricane Conditions Show Vinyl Makes A Fine Dam Material
The executive director of the Old Coast Guard Station in Virginia Beach was relieved to find the 900-pound replica surf boat in front of the museum stood its ground in the face of Hurricane Isabel’s powerful winds.
“I’ve come around corner before and the boat was not there,” Fielding L. Tyler said. “That vinyl is great stuff.”
Tyler was referring to a unique inflatable dam system developed by U.S. Flood Control Corp.
Tim Berkhimer, vice president for the Carson City, Nev.-based company, went to Virginia Beach, Va. as the Mid-Atlantic Coast was bracing itself for Isabel. Where many were using the traditional sandbag approach to divert potential flood waters, Berkhimer showcased his unique, time-saving method.
“I tell people that I can put up a 500 sandbag dam in a minute and a half,” Berkhimer said. “How long is it going to take you?
Constructed of durable, puncture-resistant vinyl, the Flood Control system consists of a series of portable, reinforced flexible tubes that are inflated with water and configured in a pyramid shape by stacking and joining the segments. The interlocking tubes, which are 50 feet long and 20 inches high, can be filled with water from a pump, fire hydrant or even garden hose in anywhere from 90 seconds to one hour each. The tubes can be quickly deployed and then drained within minutes, rolled up and reused again with no impact on the environment.
Where one of the vinyl tubes was placed along the front of the Old Coast Guard Station to prevent flooding, another was used to weigh-down the surf boat out front. The boat application was a new one for U.S. Flood Control’s patented Clement Water Diversion System, but staring down nature’s wrath has become routine.
Before Hurricane Isabel, U.S. Flood Control deployed a 350-foot dam in Louisiana’s St. Charles Parish as Tropical Storm Bill approached. St. Charles Parish officials were impressed enough with the system the dam was left up throughout the hurricane season.
The reusable sandbag replacement protection system is guaranteed to last up to 17 years if left outside, or longer if drained and stored. The system is about one-third the price of sandbag levees, and can be used for anything from floodwater diversion and water contamination to bridge repair, construction, potable water supply and storage. For more details, visit www.usfloodcontrol.com.