When it comes to flood protection, most companies will opt for sandbags. While sandbags do offer protection against flooding, there are many reasons why sandbags shouldn’t be used for flood protection, and this article will investigate why, and also suggest alternative solutions that are much more effective, such as water-inflated cofferdams.
Sandbags Do Offer Some Protection Against Flooding, But They are not Suitable for all Occasions
A sandbag, typically, is a sack made of woven polypropylene, hessian or burlap that is then filled with sand or soil (whichever is more readily available). When stacked up, they can form a resolute and sturdy barrier. They are often used for flood protection or military fortification. Other uses include the construction of levees, dikes, berms, and barricades.
Sandbags can be unreliable, especially if you are using them for flood protection. Sandbags alone act as no guarantee against flooding and must be used in conjunction with other devices such as baffle boards and plywood sheeting to further cement a wall that has been constructed using sandbags. In addition, it is usually recommended that sandbags are used to form a ‘double wall’ as the pressure of flood water is often too much for the first wall. Once flood water has penetrated a single section of a ‘sandbag wall’ the whole wall is under threat of collapse, meaning that a second wall has to be constructed as a precaution against the initial wall collapse.
All this takes time and many hours of back-breaking effort. Sandbags usually have to be filled at the source, which again adds to the deployment time. If there is a flood warning and you are ill-prepared, you simply may not have the time you need to deploy sandbags effectively. Fortunately, there are much better solutions to the issue of flood protection, such as water-filled cofferdams.
Water-Inflated Cofferdams Offer Much Better Levels of Flood Protection Than Sandbags
Water-inflated cofferdams are the number one choice for many companies when it comes to flood protection. They are quick to deploy, and, unlike sandbags, they form a completely impenetrable barrier against flood waters. You can have your flood protection up and ready in a matter of hours with a water-inflated cofferdam, as opposed to the days it takes to complete a barrier with sandbags. In addition, water-inflated cofferdams are gentler on the environment and can be used over and over again, unlike sandbags.