Delivering temporary flood defence deployment plans: lessons learned from case studies in the UK

Abstract

Temporary flood barriers can be used to create short-term, artificial walls blocking water flow across a floodplain as an alternative to permanent heavy-engineering solutions. However, to be successful, there needs to be an effective plan for the deployment of temporary flood defences. The authors of this paper highlight the lessons learned and knowledge gained through producing site-specific temporary flood defence deployment plans at Torksey Lock and St Neots in the UK. A deployment plan should operate at operational, strategic and tactical levels, with limitations at each level considered. It should also aim to resolve the risks associated with previous experiences of operational failure of temporary barriers. Limitations nevertheless remain, including awareness of and response to a structural failure. Testing of deployment plans is beneficial to flood risk engineers, emergency planning practitioners and the wider community.