Concealed Flood Barrier for GovHub

Many urban basement car parks are prone to flash flooding. AWMA’s FloodFree range offers proven, Australian made flood barriers, engineered to meet site specific requirements and predicted flood characteristics.

The Victorian Government’s new ‘Ballarat GovHub’ will accommodate up to 1,000 government employees and includes a multi-level basement car park offering approximately 220 car spaces. The large-scale urban project was undertaken by Kane Constructions and Nicholson Construction joint venture.

AWMA was engaged to design and construct a self-deploying, vertical rising flood barrier. The concealed flood barrier is a passive, self-actuating flood barrier which automatically deploys via flotation.

As the location of the GovHub is prone to overland flooding during heavy rain events, it was imperative a self-deploying flood barrier was installed to protect the car park entrance from water ingress. The barrier was manufactured almost 8m wide, to be installed across the entrance to the underground car park. The flood barrier is permanently concealed below the car park driveway. Due to building specifications, the flood barrier was custom-designed and manufactured to be installed within a reinforced pocket recess.

Water from the driveway entrance flows into the strip drain which runs across the front of the barrier. During normal rain events, this water is pumped into the storm water system. However, should the water ingress rise high enough to trigger pre-determined levels, an alarm will sound and the flood barrier will automatically rise to prevent water from entering the basement car park. The one-in-100-year flood predication for the area is a water height of 500mm. Allowing a 300mm freeboard, the concealed flood barrier was designed to raise to a maximum height of 800mm.

As a Victorian Government funded project, sourcing local products and services that would deliver the required outcomes was important; the flood barriers being no exception.

AWMA’s FloodFree barriers offer a range of products including options for manual, powered and passive flood protection.