| Abstrakt: |
In operational flood defense, it is common practice to use sandbag systems. However, their installation is time-consuming as well as material- and labor-intensive. Sandbag replacement systems (SBRSs) can be installed in significantly shorter time and with less effort. However, owing to the lack of confidence in their functionality, they are only used to a limited extent. Testing and certifying such innovative systems according to defined criteria is supportive in promoting their use in flood defense. In order to test SBRSs and as a first step toward systematic tests, the Institute for Hydraulic and Coastal Engineering of the Bremen University of Applied Sciences, Germany (IWA) has set up a test facility in which defined test series can be carried out with different SBRSs on an underlying surface of turf. The focus of the test series is on installation time, possible water head, system stability, and seepage rates when in use. A conventional sandbag dam was used as reference in order to compare the test results with the different SBRSs. Test series show that damming with SBRSs has a clear advantage over the use of sandbags in terms of the time it takes to put them in place and comparable values of seepage rates and water heads. In order to professionally promote the spread of SBRSs in operational flood protection, it is recommended to introduce the certification of SBRSs, since they are technical systems whose functional capability must be proven before their use in an emergency. Together with existing international certification schemes, the test series that were carried out deliver a basis for developing a specific testing scheme for SBRSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
