The City of Austin is committed to managing the floodplain and reducing flood risk for residents and their property regardless of whether the area is mapped or not. And with heavier rainfall & more frequent storms, flood risk is increased.
As Austin continues to grow, protecting high-value residential developments from flood damage has become increasingly important. Fifth & West Condominiums became one of the first residential developments in Austin to implement a permanent flood mitigation solution. With the high potential for heavy rainfall and flash flooding in Central Texas, the development sought a way to protect its subgrade, multistory parking garage and residents’ vehicles without impacting daily operations.
The property required a reliable flood mitigation solution that would be ready whenever flooding occurred. FloodBreak provided a passive automatic vehicle floodgate designed to protect the parking garage entrance from floodwaters while remaining hidden during normal operations. The system provides 24/7 protection with no people or power required, helping safeguard the property without disrupting day-to-day access for residents.
A custom-sized passive flood barrier was incorporated at the garage access point to protect the vehicular opening at Fifth & West. The FloodBreak automatic vehicle floodgate is designed to deploy automatically using floodwater buoyancy, requiring no human intervention or external power supply.
The installation of FloodBreak’s passive automatic floodgate provided them with a highly effective and permanent flood defense solution. The passive automatic flood barrier system delivers 100% passive operation, custom-fit versatility for unique site conditions, minimal maintenance requirements, and a long service life, ensuring dependable protection while supporting the facility’s long-term resilience.
