Flood Protection Barriers & Control Systems

Floods can happen virtually anywhere in the world. They also cause billions of dollars in damage each year. That’s why flood protection barriers like TrapBag® are essential for keeping communities and businesses safe during catastrophic events.

With strength and durability that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has successfully tested, TrapBag is the perfect solution for flood protection systems of all types. These are just a few of the types of flood damage these barriers can reduce or prevent.

River Flooding

River floods can strike anywhere, in any season. The damage doesn’t only come from large rivers like the Mississippi or the Platte, either—even small creeks can cause thousands of dollars in damage during a flooding event.

However, because TrapBag creates a watertight barrier that can withstand the dangerous strength of floodwaters in a river, they’re an ideal solution for river flood protection. They’re also easier to set up and stronger than other types of barriers.

Coastal Flooding

Several contributing factors can lead to coastal flooding along America’s oceans and lakes, including ongoing rain, severe storms, flash floods, and aging levee systems. No matter the direct origins, coastal flooding can cause damage such as destroyed roads and bridges, flooded sewer systems, and threats to life.

TrapBag barriers make excellent temporary levees to protect coastal areas from flood damage. Each cell in the barrier is independent from those surrounding it, but they all draw strength from one another—meaning they won’t give way as easily as traditional sandbags during a coastal flood.

Storm Surge

Storm surges are usually associated with hurricanes and tropical storms. Typically, the storm-force winds push the water inward as they make landfall, sometimes flooding entire city blocks in low-lying areas during the most severe events.

TrapBag barriers are strong, versatile, and easy to deploy quickly. Originally designed with storm surge protection in mind, they serve as a watertight barrier that can protect streets from being flooded with seawater.

Inland Flooding

Inland flooding is most commonly associated with hurricanes and other coastal storms. While people who live further away from the coast may be relatively safe from storm surges, the hurricane’s heavy rains can overwhelm drainage systems.

TrapBag barriers are excellent for detaining and controlling the flow of stormwater. This can prevent inland drainage systems from becoming overwhelmed and make it easier to keep untreated stormwater out of the sewer systems.

Flash Floods

In the minutes and hours after a severe storm, flash flooding can cause serious and unexpected damage to streets and buildings. These life-threatening floods often strike with little warning, making them especially dangerous in areas that had previously experienced dry weather.

While flash floods are challenging to predict, TrapBag barriers can be set up ahead of stormy weather to prevent vulnerable areas from becoming overwhelmed or affected.

TrapBag improves the design of traditional sandbags in several ways that can save time and labor without compromising on durability and security. Here are just a few of the reasons why TrapBag makes a better floodwater barrier than traditional sandbags:

• Easier to fill: It can take dozens of people hours or even days to build a traditional sandbag barrier—giving them less time to evacuate or prepare for the storm individually. However, a team of two people using a skid steer or another piece of heavy equipment can finish building a TrapBag barrier within a few hours.

• Uses less material: Compared to a stacked sandbag wall of the same size, a TrapBag barrier uses 40 percent less fill material. A single 100-foot section of 4-foot TrapBags replaces roughly 8,000 sandbags.
• Less likely to break: There is a large margin for errors in the process of building a traditional sandbag barrier, which can lead to the whole structure giving way easily during a severe flooding event.