by Brianna Crandall — July 9, 2014—As Johnson County officials issued mandatory evacuation orders for residents in low-lying areas last week, HESCO flood barriers were deployed in Iowa City, Burlington and Davenport along the Mississippi River as part of the flood preparation efforts.
With several rivers that flow into the Mississippi River in danger of over-topping, HESCO flood barriers were installed to protect critical infrastructure and ensure main roads for emergency services remained functioning:
- Iowa City installed HESCO flood barriers to protect municipal utilities, and installed a mile-long flood wall to protect Cole and Thatcher Mobile Home Parks.
- The University of Iowa constructed a 12-foot-high wall built from HESCO flood barriers around the Mayflower, and a four-foot-high flood defense along the east and west banks, water plant, student union and Advanced Technology Laboratories.
- In Coralville, a suburb of Iowa City, a 1300-foot-long wall built from HESCO flood barriers was built along Clear Creek.
HESCO defensive barriers are renowned for keeping U.S soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan safe when they are away from their homes and families, and now HESCO flood barriers are protecting towns and business throughout America during flooding, tropical storms and hurricanes.
Constructed from wire mesh and lined with a special geotextile fabric, HESCO baskets are delivered flat packed and can be filled using virtually any locally available material, such as earth or sand. HESCO flood barriers are said to have significant advantages over traditional sandbags in terms of speed and structural integrity. A typical wall of 1,500 sandbags can take 10 persons up to 7 hours to fill and build. The same length and height of wall using HESCO barrier products can reportedly be erected and filled with two persons and a standard front-end loader in just 20 minutes.
With product strategically placed throughout the United States, as soon as warnings are issued, HESCO storm barriers can be deployed to protect critical infrastructure, businesses and homes immediately.
Based in the U.K. and the USA (Charleston, South Carolina), HESCO Bastion was founded by the renowned Leeds industrialist and philanthropist, Jimi Heselden, and is a leader in the design and manufacture of rapidly deployable, ground-mounted barrier systems for the purposes of military protection, homeland security and flood protection.
