By utilizing the bookend principle, the NOAQ Boxwall is ballasted by the weight of the flood water itself. There is no need for additional fixings or anchoring methods. However, in the situation where Boxwall has been deployed during a storm and before floodwaters can anchor the boxes, there is a risk that they could be lifted and blown away if strong enough winds hit them from the back (dry side). A few sandbags strategically placed on the horizontal base section of the boxes could help weigh them down, but this is not an ideal long-term solution. Therefore, the challenge has been could we develop a storm protection device that is simple, easy-to-use, and sustainable – just like the Boxwall!

Now we have developed a solution that again uses water to ballast. With the winter snow gone, we’ve finally been able to test our latest storm protection device prototype outdoors. The idea was to build a BW52 and BW102 Boxwall with the prototype attached and use a helicopter to create the necessary storm winds (ca 25m per second). And now we have done just that. The outcome… the boxes stood firm – a success!

Stay tuned for further news about the release of our latest accessory developed specifically for the NOAQ Boxwall Flood Fighting System.

Thanks to Scandair Helicopter for the help and assistance.

Photo credit: NOAQ Flood Protection AB