Protecting A Master-Planned Community From Flooding
Tavola is a new master-planned residential community located northeast of Houston in Montgomery County. The project, which will provide nearly 4,000 families a place to call home, is being developed by the Friendswood Development Company.
Tavola is located within acres of woods filled with miles of greenbelt trails that are bordered by two bodies of water – Caney Creek & Peach Creek. This proximity to both creeks makes Tavola vulnerable to flooding during significant rain events such as Tropical Storm Imelda, which caused extensive flooding in many parts of Montgomery County including Tavola.
Images from the Tavola float test
Tavola Tropical Storm Imelda Recovery Project
As part of the Imelda Recovery project, LJA Engineering designed in FloodBreak passive automatic flood barriers to protect two vulnerable roadway entrances into the Tavola residential community. These flood barriers are permanently installed and deploy automatically without people or power, activated solely by the floodwaters to prevent flood devastation.
The floodgates span the 30’ width of the road, are 4’ tall and designed to support the static flood loads when deployed. They are rated for HS-25 loadings when in the hidden position below grade across the entrance
A project requirement was to float test both floodgates. On October 12th, 2021, a float test was set up and witnessed by multiple stakeholders, including representatives of the project team, the owner, and community maintenance crews. Both barriers deployed automatically as designed and returned to the ground after the tests were finished.
FloodBreak Provides Peace of Mind
These float tests not only allow us to demonstrate the passive operation of the gate, but they also provide the peace of mind that community homes are protected 24/7. Attendees were familiar with FloodBreak’s long track record of flood saves, but a few had not witnessed the gate actually deploy. They were impressed at the ease in which these barriers floated up and then back down in tandem with the floodwater.
Importantly they saw how the automatic deployment would prevent flood devastation when waters rise quickly and catch people off guard, as was the case during TS Imelda.
This peace of mind is an important benefit of our passive barriers.
FloodBreak passive automatic floodgates protect many homeowners including other communities, multifamily housing units and individual homes. Click here to see all of our markets.
See a time lapse video of the tavola float test below:
