Flood Barrier Innovation from Flooding Solutions Advisory Group

Fostering Creativity and Innovation in Flood Barriers

Sophisticated and protective flood barriers have become an essential feature of the built environment and communities in the past decade. Flooding Solutions Advisory Group is at the forefront of this progress in designing, manufacturing and installing flood barriers. With clientele that includes some of Australia's largest property and construction companies: Stockland, Lend Lease and Scentre (Westfield). Flooding Solutions draws on years of building industry experience to provide clients with integrated design of functional flood barriers.

Collaboration in innovation has changed dramatically over recent years, particularly the idea of open innovation that supports partnerships between a company's product development department and University Research Institutes. Flooding Solutions has teamed up with Queensland University of Technology Institute for Creative Industries and Innovation. This connection provides a rich resource for Flooding Solutions to develop game changing technological breakthroughs as well as gives students valuable "real world" experience.

What better way to foster creativity and innovation in today's generation, but to sponsor an industrial design project. Recently concluded, the project's objective was to develop a locally designed and manufactured temporary flood levee for community protection.

Through the project, Flooding Solutions is keen to reach out to both local and state governments and other major players in the industrial estates. The chosen flood levee will be used to address the following issues:

Protect low lying communities from flooding
Increase the flood protection heights of existing levees
Reduce the cost of community flood protection
Enable extended lengths of flood protection to be quickly deployed by Emergency Services.

At first, Flooding Solutions were apprehensive of what outcomes to expect. Fortunately, the idea was embraced with the energy, engagement and excitement from industrial design students. The management of Flooding Solutions was overwhelmed by the positive response.

In order to come up with the right design and functionality, Flooding Solutions laid out the following Design Criteria:

1. Simplicity - An effective portable flood barrier should not have have too many complex parts to assemble.

2. Sustainability - Flooding Solutions is an advocate of sustainable living. One of their objectives is to lower the carbon footprint in the manufacturing of flood protection barriers by reducing the need to import flood barriers from outside Australia. Local manufacturing paves the way for economic growth for it will create more local jobs that contribute to Australian economy.

3. Cost efficiency - Importing products from overseas is expensive. Local manufacturing will reduce the cost to communities of investing in flood protection.

4. Usability - Ease of handling and deployment of the new design by response teams in times of emergency.

The whole process proved to be a learning curve for both Flooding Solutions and the 13 teams of student participants. Choosing the winner was difficult for Flooding Solutions as four groups had nailed the design and criteria. Ultimately it was the brilliant simplicity of team Floodline's concept that prevailed.

Flooding Solutions supports young Australian innovators and believes by working together to achieve sustainable and practical flood mitigation measures are within reach.

For more information on the Temporary Flood Barrier design competition, contact Flooding Solutions Advisory Group.