FloodSafe
Product Info

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Floodsafe containment Demonstration in Atlanta, GA.

Atlanta Floodsafe containment Demonstration.

FloodSafe being used to drain sections of an inland waterway.

FloodSafe is a cost effective way to protect against costly flood damage to commercial and residential properties. FloodSafe tubes can be produced in various sizes to fit most applications. FloodSafe tubes can also be used as a dewatering device for commercial applications. Fire departments can use FloodSafe for drafting water.

FloodSafe features:

• Light weight – easy to handle with four people.
• Can be easily deployed using any available water source.
• Reusable and highly puncture resistant.
• Easy to store in small spaces.

Inflatable tube expected to help in flood protection By Curt Yeske

The Flood Safe unit filled with air, left. The product creates a four-foot water barrier. Under flood conditions, the unit would be placed directly against the building instead of in the middle of the parking lot. Right, Flood Safe holds water back when properly deployed around a property. Bob Freed, owner of the Yardley Inn, which had experienced about $1.15 million in damages during three major floods, looks forward to sleeping a little more soundly during future heavy storms. He is the first customer of a maker of inflatable bladders that can be placed around a building to keep out floodwaters up to three or four feet high. If such a device was available in September 2004, April 2005and June of 2006, Freed likely would not have had the dam-age, the extended loss of business, during the rehabilitation of his 175-year-old inn on River Road and East Afton Avenue. Earlier this month, he had the manufacturer of a new inflatable “bladder” that can be used to surround a commercial building or a home demonstrate how it could protect the restaurant. The system is a vinyl tube that, when laid out on a parking lot, is eight feet wide and it contains two bladders each four feet in diameter. To move it in place, one of the bladders is filled with air by a device such as a leaf blower. Four men then move it in place by grabbing heavy-duty handles. Water is pumped into the ground-level bladder, which the manufacturer said provides a firm seal that prevents flood water from get-ting under it. Although the Yardley Inn would be the first business to acquire the system since it went on the market early this year, the manufacturer, Advanced Coastal Technologies (ACT), distributes a color brochure depicting a house protected by at least three Flood Safe tubes and its use to “de-water” a pond to do police searches or for cleaning. Rande M. Kessler, the CEO of ACT, said, “Although the product is new, it is the natural extension of 30 years of success research and work in the area of coastal erosion. The technology just overlaps. It seems so simple that it is surprising that something like this hasn’t already been on the market.” Kessler said a version of the tubes, which is called Flood Safe, has been used for years to prevent ocean waves from interfering with ACT’s beach erosion projects that were under construction in Florida. “The system underwent a pretty serious test when it was set up in an u-shaped pattern to block the ocean from the beach where the construction was taking place,” said Kessler. The firm is in the process of developing other products that can be used to control water leakage in home basements, Kessler said. Kessler, who had lived in Morrisville for five years, said he saw communities along the Delaware River as a place where the Flood Safe system could be applied. Typically, a building such as the Yardley Inn would have four overlapping bladders in place as a barrier. Each would be 80 to 100 feet long and linked to surround the restaurant. “It seems like a pretty neat product,” said Freed, who has owned the Yardley landmark since 1990. “Lifting up our building wasn’t an option for us. Now, I have this to fall back on. It’s so amazingly simple, you wonder why someone hadn’t come up with this before.” Freed said he is negotiating the final terms of acquiring the system from ACT which manufacturers the Flood Safe system at its Dothan, Ala. plant. He said it could be delivered in 30days and stored on pallets along with a water pump until it is needed. The Flood Safe systems sell for $33 to $66 per lineal foot, depending on the thickness of the bladder and the size of the system, said George A. M.Hammond, a representative of ACT. “It may not be able to handle a 100-year-flood (as in 1955),but it will handle at least 36inches of flood water, which will give me a lot of peace of mind,” said Freed. “You can’t ever imagine how [flooding] preys on your mind unless you have been through it. I know I'll be able to sleep better when there is a threat of a flood.” The manufacturer is setting up demonstrations in communities along the Delaware River. Yardley Borough Manager C.William Winslade, after viewing the system, said, “It’s pretty impressive. We’ll see what hap-pens.” He said the borough may be interested in looking at the product further as a barrier to beset up on the river side of River Road to prevent the Delaware River from running into some parts of the community. Winslade said he was not endorsing the system at this point, but it may be useful to some homeowners in the community. The Flood Safe system was launched after the company had been in business of developing erosion control products for about 30 years. Vincent Polisano, who owns a River Road home with his wife, attended the demonstration and left quite impressed. He said his home would require about 200 feet to get protection from river floods.   Information about the system is available at www.advancedcoastaltechnologies.com.

For more info:
ACT Products