DE29508777U1 - Flood barrier system - Google Patents

Description

Alexander Faller
26 May 1995/V/ba

Reference number: M 3504

FLOOD BARRIER SYSTEM

The invention relates to a movable flood barrier system.

Sandbags are usually used as movable flood barriers and are stacked to form dams along the banks of rivers and lakes to prevent water from overflowing the bank.

Building such dams from sandbags involves hard physical work, as the bags must first be filled with sand and then carried to the site.

Various other movable flood barriers have therefore been proposed (US 4,692,060; US 4,799,821; US 4,921,373; US 5,040,919), each of which consists of a long, elastic hose that is filled with water in order to be able to counteract the advancing masses of water with an appropriate weight. These hoses can be quickly deployed if there is enough water to fill them before the flood rises and water pumps are available with which the hoses can be filled quickly. However, there are not always power connections to operate the pumps on the banks of rivers and streams, which is why these hoses have not been able to prevail in practice. In particular, in order to be able to quickly secure long stretches of bank with such hoses, a large number of water pumps would have to be kept ready so that many hoses can be filled within a short time. The provision and maintenance of such a large number of pumps entails considerable technical and economic expenditure.

Furthermore, US 5,040,919 describes a movable flood barrier that consists of a triangular-shaped frame in cross-section, whereby the frame has vertically aligned, parallel struts on the water side, over which an insulating sheet is stretched, which stretches approximately semicircularly between the struts in cross-section when the water rises. The entire pressure of the water rests on the insulating sheet, which is only supported at a distance, so that the insulating sheet can tear if it is overloaded, which means that safe insulation cannot be guaranteed.

The invention is based on the object of creating a flood barrier system that is simple in design, can be erected quickly and without great technical effort, requires little storage space and yet ensures safe insulation against flooding.

The problem is solved by a flood barrier system having the feature of claim 1.

The flood barrier system according to the invention has several wedge-shaped, stackable dam modules, each with a gently rising dam wall, which are placed next to each other with their dam walls to form a uniform dam surface, with a tarpaulin being placed on the dam surface to seal it.

The dam modules are simply designed bodies that can be stacked on top of each other in a small footprint to save space. When creating the flood barrier, they can be placed next to each other quickly and easily along the bank to be secured, so that they form a uniform dam surface. The dam surface is then sealed by laying the tarpaulin on top. When creating the flood barrier, no lengthy work processes are necessary, such as pumping up water, but the flood barrier is created by a

simply set up the dam modules and lay down the dam tarpaulin or dam foil.

Due to the flat wedge shape of the dam modules, the water pressure essentially presses vertically downwards and with only a small force component horizontally against the dam wall, so that the dam modules do not give way to the water pressure sideways and slide away.

The invention is described in more detail using the drawing as an example. The drawing shows schematically:

Fig. 1 a side view of a dam module for the

Flood barrier according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the device shown in Fig. 1

Dam module;

Fig. 3 is a front view of the device shown in Fig. 1

ten dam module;

Fig. 4 a cross section through an inventive

large flood barrier;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the device shown in Fig. 4.

provided flood barrier;

Fig. 6 is a rear view of the device shown in Fig. 4.

flood barrier;

Fig. 7 a side view of a double high

water barrier ;

Fig. 8 is a front view of the device shown in Fig. 7

double flood barrier;

Fig. 9a a cross section through a double

flood barrier;

Fig. 9b a cross section through a double

Flood barrier with stakes;

Fig. 10 a plan view of a flood barrier

with intermediate plates;

Fig. 11a and 11b each show a plan view of a flood barrier with intermediate plates, where the
Barrier describes a curve;

Fig. 12a a plan view of an intermediate plate for

a curve or bend;

Fig. 12b a plan view of an intermediate plate for

an upper section of a double flood barrier in a curve;

Fig. 13 a double flood barrier with curves.

The flood barrier system according to the invention is composed of several dam modules 1 arranged next to one another, which are covered with a tarpaulin 2 in order to prevent water masses rising over the banks from spreading further. The dam modules 1 each have a gently rising dam wall 3, which rises gradually from a front edge 4 to a transverse edge 5. With the front edge 4, the dam module 1 in the flood barrier is aligned towards the water side, whereby the dam modules 1 with their dam walls 3 form a dam surface 6, which is covered with the tarpaulin 2 in order to seal the flood barrier against the rising water 7.

The dam modules 1 are one-piece elements that are designed in the form of a shell, the shell being represented by the insulation wall 3, a rear wall 8 and two side walls 9, 10. The rear wall 8 slopes relatively steeply in comparison to the insulation wall 3 from the transverse edge 5 to a rear edge 11, with the insulation wall 3 and the rear wall 8 preferably enclosing a right angle in the area of the transverse edge 5.

The dam wall 3 and the rear wall 8 are laterally delimited by front, water-side side edges 12 and rear, rear side edges 13. Between each of the front and rear side edges 12, 13, one of the side walls 9, 10 extends downwards. The side walls 9, 10 are triangular, with an upper corner 14 each representing a lateral end point of the transverse edge 5 and each having a bottom-side lower side edge 15 which, together with the front edge 4 and the rear edge 11, delimits a rectangular base area. This base area delimited by the edges 4, 11 and 15 forms an angle with the dam wall 3 in the range of 20° to 40°, preferably

30°, and with the rear wall an angle between 50° and 70°, preferably 60°. The side walls 9, 10 are arranged inclined to one another starting from the bottom edge 15, so that the upper corner 14 lies vertically above the base.

The dam module 1 thus forms a shell-shaped hollow body made up of four flat walls 3, 8, 9, 10, each of which extends diagonally upwards from the bottom edge of the base. This spatial shape allows several dam modules 1 to be stacked inside one another, so that a large number of them can be stored in a space-saving manner.

The tarpaulin 2 covers the dam surface 6 formed by the dam walls 3 of several modules 1, preferably extending a little over the front edges 4 of the dam modules 1 towards the water, so that it also covers a water-side ground area in front of the dam modules 1. This prevents water from penetrating under the dam modules 1. So that this area of the tarpaulin 2 covering the ground is not washed away by water, it is expedient to fix the water-side edge area 17 of the tarpaulin 2, which is remote from the dam modules 1, for example by means of ground nails or by weighing it down with stones or the like. A heavy filler 16, for example a sand filling, is preferably sewn or welded into the water-side edge area 17 of the tarpaulin 2, so that the tarpaulin 2 rests on the ground only with difficulty and is not washed away by water. The tarpaulin 2 is fixed to the dam surface 6, whereby the tarpaulin 2 is folded over the transverse edges 5 of the dam modules 1 so that it also rests on their rear walls 8 and, through its own weight, fixes the area of the tarpaulin 2 resting on the dam surface 3. In the area of the rear edge 11, additional fastening means for fixing the tarpaulin 7 can be provided, for example in the form of pins or hooks 18 provided on the dam modules 1 in the area of the rear edge 11, which engage eyelets 19 made in the tarpaulin 2.

To seal a long flood barrier, several tarpaulins 2 are placed laterally one after the other or one after the other on the dam modules 1, overlapping with their lateral edges 20 (Fig. 6). In flowing water, the tarpaulin 2 that is at the front in the direction of flow (arrow 22 in Fig. 5) rests on the tarpaulin that follows in the direction of flow in the overlapping area, so that the lateral edges 20 of the tarpaulin 2 cannot be undermined either.

The flood barrier according to the invention can also be adapted to bends, e.g. in the course of the banks of the waters to be dammed. For this purpose, trapezoidal intermediate plates 23 (Fig. 12a) with a short and a long front edge 24, 25 and edge regions 26 bent towards the ground are provided next to the side edges 26a, 26b. These edge regions 26 are bent at a flat angle in a bending line running parallel to the side edges 26a, 26b in the same direction, so that they form the shape of a flat channel that narrows towards the short front edge 24. Between the bent edge regions 26 there is a flat region 27 that is designed with stiffening ribs or beads running parallel to the front edges 24, 25.

An intermediate plate 23 is placed on or attached to two adjacent dam modules 1 that are angled to one another (angle α or ß), bridging the area between the two dam walls 3 of the dam modules 1. The dam modules 1 can be arranged laterally adjacent or abutting to form the angle α with their front edges 4 or to form the angle β with their rear edges 11, so that the radius of curvature of the bend in the bank can be on the water side (Fig. lla) as well as on the side facing away from the water (Fig. lib) of the flood barrier. The intermediate plates 23 are placed on the dam modules 1 in such a way that their bent edge areas 26 rest as flatly as possible on the dam walls 3 of the dam modules 1 to be bridged and a continuous, gap-free dam surface 6 is formed.

A particular advantage of the dam modules 1 according to the invention is the possibility of assembling the dam modules 1 in pairs one above the other to form a higher flood barrier. For this purpose, the dam modules 1 each have V-shaped grooves 29 arranged at a distance from one another and pointing towards the ground, which run along the transverse edge 5, with each groove 29 being followed by a remaining gable area 31 of the transverse edge 5.

Two dam modules 1 (Fig. 7, 8, 9a, 13) can be put together at the transverse edges 5, whereby a gable area 31 of the transverse edge 5 of one module 1 is fitted into a groove 29 of the other module 1, so that the gable areas 31 form a kind of hinge channel with the grooves 29. A hinge joint is formed with a pin 32, so that the two modules are attached to one another.

The dam modules 1 assembled in this way thus form a body made up of a lower dam module la, which is set up in the flood barrier in the manner described above with the front edge 4 pointing towards the water side, and an upper dam module Ib, which with its rear wall 8 extends the dam wall 3 of the lower dam module la upwards, so that the rear wall 8 of the upper dam module Ib extends the dam surface 6 upwards, with the rear wall 8 of the upper dam module Ib rising more steeply than the dam wall 3 of the lower dam module la. The upper dam module Ib extends from the transverse edge 5 of the lower dam module la away from the water side and rests on the ground with its front edge 4 on the side of the flood barrier that is away from the water. The tarpaulin 2 is hooked with its eyelets 19 onto the pins or hooks 19 of the upper dam module Ib provided in the area of the rear edge 11, whereby the area around the rear edge 11 now forms an uppermost edge area 34 of the double flood barrier, since this upper dam module Ib is arranged with its dam wall 3 pointing backwards or facing away from the water.

A water barrier adjacent to the double flood barrier

pressure causes the upper dam module Ib to be supported on the rear wall 8 and loaded at the hinge connection so that the upper dam module Ib is pressed into the ground with its front edge 4 and thus wedges itself against slipping, particularly on rough or soft ground.

This means that a relatively high flood barrier can be built without any further safety measures.

The double water barrier can also be adapted to bends in a watercourse or bank, whereby the intermediate plates 23 are placed or attached to the lower dam modules 1a in the manner described above.

The areas between the rear walls 8 of the upper dam modules Ib are closed by smaller intermediate plates 35 (Fig. 12b), which have an approximately identical rectangular spatial shape with edge areas 36 bent laterally in the same direction on the side edges 36a, 36b and a flat area 37 in between. This flat area 37 is in turn provided with stiffening ribs or beads. The width of the smaller intermediate plate 33 corresponds approximately to the width of the long front edge 25 of the large intermediate plate 23 for covering the areas between the lower dam modules la. The height of the small intermediate plate corresponds approximately to the distance between a rear edge 11 and a transverse edge 5. The intermediate plates 35 are preferably attached by hanging them on the pins or hooks 18 of the upper dam modules 1b, so that the intermediate plates 35 extend over the area between the rear walls 8 of adjacent upper dam modules 1b and complement the rear walls 8 to form a continuous dam surface 6.

This double flood barrier thus allows a flood barrier of considerable height to be quickly constructed without great technical effort, whereby it is composed of a large number of identical, stackable dam modules 1, which are only locked together with the pins 32 and in the bending

are supplemented by intermediate plates 23, 35. Due to the inventive arrangement of the pins or hooks 18 in the area of the rear edges 11, a tarpaulin 2 attached to a single flood barrier is only hung from the rear wall 8 of the lower dam module la to the rear wall 8 of the upper dam module 1b when converting to a double flood barrier, without the tarpaulin 2 having to be folded over or slipped, since the distance of the pins or hooks 18 to the upper transverse edge 5 of the lower dam module la is always the same as the distance to the hooks 18 of the upper module 1b.

The double flood barrier can be raised using stanchions. The stanchions consist of several planks 38 assembled to form a rectangular surface, which are attached to two rods 37 arranged perpendicular to the planks. The rods 37 are inserted into sockets 36 arranged on the side walls 9, 10 of the dam modules 1, so that the stanchions with their surface formed by the planks 38 extend upwards from the uppermost edge area 34 of the double flood barrier. The sockets 36 are preferably arranged on the side walls 9, 10 in such a way that the surface formed by the planks 38 lies approximately in the plane of the rear wall 8 of the dam module 16.

The flood barrier according to the invention can be erected quickly with little personnel deployment, whereby, for example, the dam modules 1 are unloaded from the loading area of a vehicle driving slowly past the bank and placed next to one another and then covered with the tarpaulin 2.

During the majority of periods in which the movable flood barrier is not required, the dam modules 1 can be stacked on a small footprint, so that they take up very little space. Furthermore, the elements of the flood barrier according to the invention are not subject to any complex maintenance, as is the case with pumps or the like, for example, since the flood barrier only consists of simple shell-shaped

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Dam modules 1, intermediate plates 23, 35, pins 32 and a tarpaulin 2. If the subsoil allows only a limited adhesion of the dam modules 1, it may be advisable to secure them with chains or ground anchors.

The flood barrier according to the invention can also be used to insulate other materials moved in masses by natural forces, such as snow from avalanches, for example as an avalanche barrier, with the front edges of the dam modules 1 being aligned with an avalanche-prone slope.

Claims (15)

AZ :M 3504 Alexander Faller 26 May 1995/V/ba PROTECTION CLAIMS 1. Flood barrier system with a tarpaulin (2) and wedge-shaped, stackable dam modules (1), each with a flat rising dam wall (3), whereby the dam modules (1) with their dam walls (3) can be arranged side by side and facing one side of the water, so that a uniform dam surface (6) can be formed, on which the tarpaulin (2) can be placed to seal the dam surface. 2. Flood barrier system according to claim 1,
characterized, that the dam module (1) is designed in one piece in the form of a shell with the flat, gently rising dam wall (3), a rear wall (8) opposite the dam wall (3) and two side walls (9,10). 3. Flood barrier system according to claim 2,
characterized, that the dam wall (3) and the rear wall (8) abut one another at a transverse edge (5), whereby they enclose a right angle in the area of the transverse edge (5). 4. Flood barrier system according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that that the dam module (1) with a front edge (4), a rear edge (11) and two side edges (15) delimits a rectangular base area, wherein the dam wall (3) encloses an angle in the area of the front edge (4) of 20° to 40°, preferably 30°. 5. Flood barrier system according to claim 3 and claim 4,
characterized, that the rear wall (8) forms an angle of between 50° and 70°, preferably 60°, with the rectangular base in the area of the rear edge (11). 6. Flood barrier system according to claim 2 or one of claims 3 to 5, characterized, that the side walls (9,10) are flat walls which are arranged diagonally from the bottom outside to the top inside. 7. Flood barrier system according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that that the tarpaulin (2) preferably extends over the front edges (4) of the dam modules (1). 8. Flood barrier system according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that that a heavy filling (16), for example a sand filling, is sewn or welded into a water-side edge area (17) of the tarpaulin (2). 8. Flood barrier system according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that that the dam module (1) has fastening means for fixing the tarpaulin (7), for example in the form of pins or hooks (18) protruding from the dam modules (1) which can engage eyelets made in the tarpaulin (7). 9. Flood barrier system according to claim 8,
characterized, that the pins or hooks on the rear wall (8) are arranged in the area of the rear edge (11). 10. Flood barrier system according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that that trapezoidal intermediate plates (23) are inserted between the dam walls (3) of two adjacent dam modules in order to adapt the flood barrier to bends in the bank of the waters to be dammed. 11. Flood barrier system according to claim 10,
characterized, that the trapezoidal intermediate plates (23) are designed with a long side edge (24, 25) and laterally bent edge regions (26), wherein the edge regions (26) are bent at a shallow angle in the same direction. 12. Flood barrier system according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that that two dam modules can be connected to one another at their transverse edge (5) running between the dam wall (3) and the rear wall (8), so that the dam modules connected in pairs are assembled into a double flood barrier with a lower dam module (la) and an upper dam module (Ib), whereby the lower dam module (la) with its dam wall (3) and the upper dam module (Ib) with its rear wall (8) form a continuous dam surface (6). 13. Flood barrier system according to claim 12,
characterized, that the lower dam module (la) is connected to the upper dam module (Ib) by hinges. 14. Flood barrier system according to claim 13,
characterized, that the dam modules (1) have spaced-apart grooves (29) which run along the transverse edge (5), whereby each channel (29) is followed by a remaining gable region (31) of the transverse edge (5), so that two dam modules can be assembled, wherein each gable region (31) of the transverse edge (5) is received in a channel (29), so that the gable regions (31) of the dam modules (1) are interlocked and can be fastened to one another with a pin (32) to form a hinge joint. 15. Flood barrier system according to one of claims 12 to 14, characterized , that a stake can be placed on the upper dam module (Ib) of the double flood barrier, which extends the dam surface upwards from an uppermost edge area (34)~ of the double flood barrier.