 | | Wednesday 10th September 2003
Keeping back the water in Worcester | |
|  | | The flood defences in action in Sweden |
| | Plans for a new flood defence scheme in Worcester has received the backing of the council. They've chosen a Swedish-invented pallet barrier system. We have details of how it works. |
| | | Hylton Road in Worcester will be one of the first places in the country to try out the new barriers.
The defences will be made out of wooden pallets covered in plastic sheeting, but will be moved from Kidderminster into at risk areas, as soon as flood warnings are confirmed by the Environment Agency.
The manufacturers, Geodesign, have told councillors that the pallets are the next evolutionary step in flood defence and were 100 times faster to erect than sandbags.
The Pallet Barrier is based on the use of EURpallets, which usually used to transport goods.
The idea is that these are hired locally, only for the duration of the flood, to avoid the need for storage.
 | | Pallet barrier |
The actual base for the pallets consists of collapsible frames/supports made of galvanised steel. They are stored in flat-packs and when needed are unfolded and placed in the shape needed.
Once this is done, the structure is covered by a reinforced plastic membrane, to keep the water away.
There is no need for nails or screws as the whole barrier is self-anchoring.
The pressure from the water, together with the friction against the ground is enough to hold the barrier in place.
The system has been used successfully all over the world including the recent floods in Germany. | | | |
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