Two bespoke flood barriers have been installed to protect the lifts in a luxury riverside apartment development in York. The barriers were manufactured individually to provide a unique secondary line of flood defence, augmenting the protection offered by the previously installed flood gates. Standard widths of the barriers manufactured to the DEFRA specified height, which are part of the Floodsave range of products from Flexseal, are available from builders’ merchants.
The new barriers were installed to protect the lift pits in the building’s basement car park. The flood gates at the car park entrances had been in position since the building’s development in the 1990s and still form the first line of defence against floodwater, offering sufficient protection during most flood events.
However, the severe flooding of Autumn 2012 saw the River Ouse rise to over 5m, breaching the car park windows, which are higher than the entranceways and are permanent openings for ventilation purposes. The waters flowed to the lowest point within the building, infiltrating the lift pits which house the two lifts between the car park and apartments and causing tens of thousands of pounds of damage to the lift mechanisms.
This extreme event prompted the apartment building’s managing agents to seek expert flood protection advice to review the in situ flood defence arrangements and to ensure future protection of the lift shafts. They contacted Cook Group Limited of Hull, whose specialist divisions include lift pit waterproofing, structural waterproofing and flood defence & damage repair.
“We came to site with colleagues from our partner organisation, Yorkshire Dampcourse, so that we could understand the precise requirements of this situation,” stated Dave Cook, Managing Director of Cook Group. “Yorkshire Dampcourse offer complementary specialist skills to our own and we frequently pool our resources and knowledge. Our partnership ensures that we can offer every possible method of flood repair and protection and propose the best solution for the customer.”
Initially, the customer had specified waterproofing the entire lift shaft structure. However, the partnership was able to propose a tighter solution to the lift pit which would be more effective and efficient - bespoke flood barriers. The exact specification of the barriers was drawn up by Yorkshire Dampcourse Director, Martin Hughes, whose company then installed them.
“Each doorway was precisely measured so we’d be confident of an exact fit with a good seal,” explained Martin. “The manufacturer was extremely helpful in producing individual barriers to our exact dimensions. Each barrier is approximately 2.2 metres high and 1.5 metres wide, but, despite the size, installing the fixings was as straightforward as it would be for any standard barrier.”
The installation of the barriers by Yorkshire Dampcourse, along with sump pumps, created this new, second level of flood defence for more extreme flooding events. The in situ flood doors will still be used to protect the whole car park from water ingress where lower levels of floodwater are experienced.
“When we first inspected the site, the seals around the doors had perished and gaps had opened up beneath the gate thresholds,” said Dave. “Our solution was to use a combination of specialist construction polymer modified concrete repair mortars and a twin component polyurethane based joint sealant to permanently re-seal the entranceway and refurbish the door seals, so that this first line of defence could still be relied upon.
“When a flood warning is issued for the area by the Environment Agency, the building caretaker closes the flood gates, which will now work as originally specified to keep the car park dry. If flood water continues to rise and may overtop the car park windows, he’ll then position the new barriers across the lift doors.”
“The second level of protection that we’ve installed saves thousands of pounds of damage to the lifts during severe flood events,” added Martin. “It also allows the lifts to be put back into service as soon as the waters have retreated, saving inconvenience to the building’s residents.
“We continue to service and maintain all of the flood defence mechanisms in place at this development, so that they’re always available for use, when required,” he continued.
For information about Flexseal’s Floodsave whole-house range of flood defence products, please visit www.floodsave.co.uk. For installation advice or services for flood defence or other water or damp-related issues, please visit either www.yorkshiredampcourse.co.uk or www.cookgroupltd.co.uk.
