Product Testing
Product Performance Qualification Testing
Flood Defence Systems barriers underwent two rounds of government flood defence testing performed at the Canadian National Research Council (NCR) water basin test site in Ottawa (2020).
The first, a dynamic operational test, was tested in an urban environment. One 7m barrier and a 3.5m barrier were erected and connected together, then filled with rushing water using high-pressure hoses to a depth of 1M (3ft) of water in the containment area.
The second, a stress test, tested FDS air-inflated flood barriers under extreme flood conditions to test up to 1.2M (4 ft) of water and one-foot waves.
Findings:
- 7m(24 ft) and 3.5m (12 ft) barriers connected to form protected enclosure and fitted with multiple sensors.
- Basin filled to various depths up to 1.25m (49 ins) and the barriers subjected to waves of up to 0.3m (12 ins).
- Flood prevention barriers withstood over 8,600kg (15,000 lbs) of water force with minimal seepage.
- Minimal leakage through 3.5m (12 ft) and 7m(24 ft) barriers. Proved that the flood control barriers were effective at significantly reducing the flow rate of the flood water.
- A single, small, commercially available water pump used to pump out any excess water.
- Set up and tear down times for each barrier confirmed at less than one hour.
Rapid Response
Barriers were set up in under 12 labour-hours and used 58 sandbags versus 60 labour-hours and over 1,200 bags for a sandbag wall equivalent.