H-wall

H-wall

This thesis is focused on testing and demonstrating the H-wall and suggesting improvements for future versions of this temporary flood barrier. During the summer of 2021 regions in Belgium and Germany flooded and there were extreme water levels in the Dutch province Limburg. Sandbags were the temporary flood barrier of choice because they have proven their suitability through the centuries. They unfortunately have some pretty severe drawbacks. Placing the sandbags is a slow, expensive and labour-intensive process. To solve these limitations Altena came up with the H-wall as an alternative temporary flood barrier.

The H-wall is a simple structure consisting of grid panels, plastic foil and tension cables. Each section of H-wall consists of two panels. The first panel is placed flat on the ground and the second panel slides in and stands upright to form an L-shape. These sections can be placed next to each other to reach the length required to protect an area from flooding. When all the sections are in place the plastic foil is placed on top of the panels to make the structure watertight. The idea behind this light weight structure is that the weight of the water on top of the floor panel will always be bigger than the water pressure against the vertical panel. In order to prevent water from flowing under the foil initially, a line of sandbags is placed along the edge of the foil. For added safety the two panels of each section are connected using tension cables.

The flood barrier is made from lightweight and cheap materials and therefore is a promising alternative to sandbags. The focus of this project is to answer the question:

“What are the flood protection capabilities and limits of the H-wall and how can it be improved”.

This question is answered by looking at the stability and failure mechanisms of the barrier and doing field tests.

The barrier hasn’t been put through many tests yet and is the first iteration of the design. Altena asked the TU Delft to help them test, research and improve the design.