Business Flood Defence Case Study – Surrey

Godalming – Surrey

A sheltered housing business that required protection from a flooding from the road and a river.

Flooding History

This development of sheltered housing for the elderly was flooded in December 2013. The water surged in from the main road in front of the property and from the rear as the river burst its banks at the back. The water came through the front door and surged down the side of the property getting into the accommodation of many of the residents, who had to be evacuated quickly.
Clearly this incident was very disruptive and distressing for the residents.

Products Supplied

The original proposal was to erect barriers in front of each individual property, but the Estate Manager came up with the idea of blocking off the whole driveway to the side of the property.
This required building some walls, which was also carried out to protect some other parts of the property. However the finished result means that only two barriers need to be erected in this area, rather than several.
Side Gate Flood Barrier
Side Gate Flood Barrier
The total solution therefore involved a barrier to protect the front door, two to protect the driveway, one to protect some French windows and one to protect a back door. There is now also a wall to protect a joining passageway.
The Estate Manager has involved some of the residents who wanted to help by training them to erect the barriers. To make this easier he has built special storage for each barrier, immediately adjacent to where the barrier will be deployed. Two of them look a bit like sentry boxes!
What’s more, each panel is numbered and marked to show where it should be fitted with corresponding markings on the posts. At the manager’s request they were also supplied with a set of double steps to enable emergency services to get over the barrier easily if required.

Subsequent Use

Fortunately, the property has not been threatened with flooding since the installation.

Customer Comment

“We were pleased that the UKFDA responded well to our suggestions and we are delighted with the final result. Everything is now in place and we feel confident that in the event of flooding in future we will be protected and the residents will be safeguarded.
The system is easy to deploy and manageable by our residents, so does not require specialist expertise for us to be protected.

– Ken, Estate Manager, Sheltered Housing, Surrey

Front Driveway Entrance Barrier Fixings
Front Driveway Entrance Barrier Fixings