“Floodtubes” are tested Flood protection for climate summit in Bonn
Bonn · A mobile protection system should ensure that nobody gets wet feet at the COP 23. On Tuesday, the system was tested out.
Climate change has also had an impact on flooding in Europe - scientists are continually arriving at this conclusion. When around 25,000 people come to Bonn from November 6 to 17 to discuss the effects of climate change at the COP 23 World Climate Summit, flooding could be an issue - a very concrete one. In the event that the Rhine would flood into the Rheinaue during the summit, a mobile protection system would be used. On Tuesday, the system was tested.
“Floodtubes” fill with water
The system is called “Floodtubes” and consists of red polyester tubes, which are filled with water in the event of flooding. They are stacked on top of each other so that a 1.60 meter high wall dam is created, including a one-meter wall formed on the ground on which the tubes rest. The mobile wall runs 600 meters between the Rhine River shore and Charles de Gaulle Straße. “At one end, our protection is being docked to the floodplain system of the UN building,” explains Sven Hansen from general contractor Vagedes & Schmid.
“With the mobile protective measures, we can ensure that the water is at first held back,” said Helge Wendenburg of the Federal Environmental Ministry. The system is not designed to stop long term flooding but it should give organizers enough time to evacuate people and whatever items are needed from the area. “In principle, the system can be set up within ten hours with around ten workers,” said Hansen.
The first parts of the system were unloaded at 11am on Tuesday morning and by 5 pm, the last part of the provisional dam was finished. Now it runs across Charles de Gaulle Straße. Wendenburg said the system could be broken down again without leaving any traces. No information was available concerning the costs of the system.
Preventing flooding of the terrain
The “Floodtubes” system is to be activated when certain water levels are reached. Wendenberg says that the new water level for the river is given every 30 minutes online. In 1993, the Rhine reached a record high, exactly where the mobile flood protection system was installed now. The floodwater damaged the Schürmann building, where the Deutsche Welle is located today. With the “Floodtubes”, flooding of the terrain should be stopped, at least during the climate summit.
(Orig. text: Alexander Grantl / Translation: ckloep)
