Raise Levees Without Raising Bridges

FloodBreak® Roadway Gates are a cost effective way to raise levees that must extend across roads and highways to meet FEMA accreditation requirements.

Hidalgo County Floodway levees must be raised to meet FEMA accreditation elevation requirements
Looking west on US 83 Bridge across the Floodway

FloodBreak completed installation of passive Roadway Gates to connect raised levees along the Hidalgo County Floodway. This was a cost effective alternative for the IBWC instead of raising the bridge or creating road humps on each side.  The levees were raised to meet new FEMA levee accreditation requirements. Read more about the IBWC Flood Control Project.

IBWC levees along the Floodway were raised to meet new FEMA elevation and Roadway Gates were used across US 83 instead of raising the bridge
Looking across the Floodway from the elevated West Levee
FloodBreak Roadway Gate is a cost effective alternative to raising bridges or roadways
FloodBreak Roadway Gates are used at bridge entrances to connect the newly raised levee and meet new FEMA levee accreditation requirements.

This is the third bridge that uses the automatic FloodBreak Roadway Gates instead of raising the bridge.  The Borderland Bridge in Canutillo, TX and the Country Club Bridge in Sunland Park, NM had the passive flood barrier system installed earlier this year.

The passive flood barrier system is installed beneath grade at the bridge entrances and connects the levee at the designed levee height to meet the requirements for FEMA accreditation.

Fully passive, the floodgates are automatically lifted by the floodwaters without human intervention or power during a flood event but return to  their lowered, hidden location when the floodwaters recede. This allows IBWC to meet the new levee elevation  but not have to allocate resources to manually close floodgates or deploy temporary demountable systems.