With changing climate, coastal areas are increasingly
vulnerable to rising sea levels, hurricanes, and other extreme weather
events. Hurricane Sandy serves as one
example demonstrating the vulnerability of heavily populated coastal areas to
these threats.
The masonry system described on this blog lends itself very
well to meeting the challenges coastal areas face with our changing
climate. The same set of manufactured
interlocking triangular concrete block can be employed in a number of
applications suitable to withstand the conditions expected in these vulnerable
coastal areas. This masonry system is
very high strength, affordable, easy to install, offers extensive design
flexibility, and can employ steel reinforcement for additional strength and
hardening.
Some of the applications which will effectively address the
threats posed in coastal areas by changing climate include:
·
Residential structures – Entire homes can be
built, including the roof. This high
strength configuration will withstand sustained hurricane-force winds, storm
surges, flying debris, and much more.
·
Safe rooms – A safe room can be economically
provided for individual residences. In
the event of a hurricane or bad storm, this will provide a safe refuge from
extreme weather. Safe rooms are built
above ground, to minimize threat of flooding and storm surges.
·
Levees – these can be inexpensively and
effectively installed to contain rising seas.
Our interlocking masonry system can be assembled with rebar to create
steel reinforced concrete walls at low cost.
By simply adding extra layers of brick (known as wythes) the levee wall
can be made substantially thicker, stronger, taller and more robust. Levees can also be tied in to pilings driven
deep into the ground for added stability and anchorage.
·
Community safe rooms – Large safe rooms
available to the public can help provide safe shelter for renters, homeless
people, and anyone else left vulnerable in a hurricane.
·
First responder facilities – Firemen, ambulances,
police and other first responders can have their facilities strengthened and
made more resilient to extreme weather events and other emergency situations by
using this protective masonry system.
·
Retaining walls, culverts, channels and water
divertment – Surface water can have a dramatic erosive effect on land
features. Strategic placement of
retaining walls, culverts, and other topological masonry features can help
direct the flow of surface water in cases of flooding and storm surges to
minimize the negative impacts of erosion.
·
Fresh water storage – Emergency water storage
can be easily located throughout populated areas to provide stores of fresh, potable water in
the aftermath of hurricanes and other debilitating extreme weather events which
can incapacitate public water supplies.
·
Waste treatment facilities – Reinforced domes and
arches can provide protection to waste treatment facilities. This will help stop the spread of unhealthy
raw sewage in the event of flooding, storm surges, and other extreme weather
events; it will keep the facilities in a functioning state.
·
Nuclear power site protection – Certain vulnerable,
critical-to-function components of nuclear power plants can be protected with
this masonry system. This includes
emergency generator protection, such as those at Fukushima Daiichi in Japan,
which were left incapacitated by the tsunami, resulting in uncontrolled meltdowns
of reactor cores.
This masonry system is easily, quickly and inexpensively
provided to coastal areas vulnerable to threats of hurricanes, rising seas and
other extreme weather events. A
multitude of concrete block plants are located along coastal areas across the
globe. The infrastructure required to
provide this exceptional masonry system is already in place: they simply change molds to make this system available.
This masonry system provides an effective, affordable,
efficient, environmentally appropriate means to create sustainable, resilient,
attractive communities better able to withstand the threats posed by our
changing climate.