FloodBreak® passive flood barriers provide permanent flood protection and are virtually invisible with tile covering.
The City of Knoxville has been a participant in the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program since 1971. The program is for communities to identify and protect floodplains in order to reduce severe flooding and qualify for reduced flood insurance rates. The City of Knoxville defines the regulatory floodway as the 500-year flood, which is stricter than the national FEMA requirement of a 100-year floodway.
When a the City of Knoxville determined that a local restaurant renovation had to comply with their floodplain ordinance, the restaurant installed two FloodBreak Automatic Floodgates to ensure that they were protected to the 500-year flood elevation plus one foot of freeboard. Since the restaurant was not open 24 hours, it was determined that passive flood barriers were needed to ensure flood protection particularly when personnel weren’t available to deploy active flood barriers. The two passive floodgates – one installed outside a side door and one inside the main entrance – were covered with tile to match the surrounding environment resulting in permanent, 24/7, flood protection that is almost entirely hidden.
