Opportunities and Drawbacks of Mobile Flood Protection Systems

Permanent flood protection systems like dykes and protection walls offer a high level of protection against flooding and need only little maintenance during flood events. Therefore, most high-risk areas are protected by permanent constructions. Problems arise in densely populated areas where no space for dykes is available and less space consuming flood protection walls would cut off traffic lines and obstruct view axes. In these cases, mobile flood protection measures may be a solution to fit both requirements: protection in case of flooding and open access to the floodplain over the remaining time. Furthermore, mobile protective systems can be used as emergency tool against flooding in unprotected low-lying areas and for heightening of permanent flood protection structures in extreme events.
Planning criteria of mobile flood protection like types of application, early warning and deployment time, required personnel, structural failure mechanisms, financial aspects, and essential information politics are discussed in this paper. As the available constructions differ in material, construction, permanent facilities, available protection height, and safety level, a systematization of mobile flood protection systems as well as opportunities and drawbacks of the described constructions are given.