Flood lamination is a hydraulic engineering technique used to control the flooding of rivers and streams. It consists of slowing down the flow of water, increasing the wet surface of the river bed and reducing the speed of the water so that it cannot cause damage and flooding.
One of the main techniques used for flood control is the construction of expansion tanks, containment works that allow the reduction of the flow rate at the height of the flood.
Expansion boxes what are they?
The expansion tanks, also called expansion basins, are real flexible containers made with different products and construction techniques, in some of them, the use of GreenWall PVC sheet piles can be positioned between the different sections of a work of civil engineering, such as for example for the reinforcement of embankments with a hydraulic function and with an anti-erosion function.
The water is then drained inside these containers during floods, thus limiting the flow downstream. The water inside the expansion tanks allows them to expand and contract according to external stresses, thus maintaining the cohesion of the structure.
To give a practical example, we could say that the expansion tanks work in a similar way to a funnel: when the water level rises, the water is conveyed into the expansion tank and its flow is slowed down, thus preventing flooding.
In this way, the water is temporarily held in the expansion tank, allowing the speed of the flow to decrease and to avoid any damage caused by floods.
What are the expansion tanks for?
The expansion tanks therefore play an essential role in guaranteeing the safety of the structures and their users. The purpose of these works is in fact to obtain the preordained and rational flooding of the floodplain spaces or of the areas adjacent to the watercourse, sometimes naturally predisposed to contain the incoming volumes, in other cases delimited by special embankments if their conformation it is not adequate to contain water volumes.
In summary, the expansion basins make it possible to manage certain volumes of water that would normally be free, thus reducing the flow rate at the height and preventing overflows and floods near inhabited centres.
Expansion tanks can also be used to produce the opposite effect: when the water flow is too low, the expansion tank can be used to release the trapped water and increase the flow.
Pvc greenwall sheet pile for the construction of expansion tanks
In order for the expansion tanks to work perfectly, it is important to use robust materials with excellent hydraulic permeability performance, ideal for reinforcing and permeability of embankments, such as GreenWall PVC sheet piles and in particular GreenWall Ultra Sealing sheet piles.
GreenWall Ultra Sealing premium quality PVC sheet piles guarantee strength, stability and durability, as well as presenting excellent resistance to UV rays and corrosive agents and excellent hydraulic impermeability thanks to the innovative gasket positioned inside the joint (designed by Greenwall) which allows to obtain a permeability of the interlock with a K of permeability k= 8.8*10-12 with a water pressure of 2.1 Bar, certified by the prestigious Institute of Technology "Politecnico di Milano 1863"
Greenwall Ultra Sealing sheet piles are the only ones that have obtained interlock impermeability certification from an official institute recognized throughout the world
GreenWall vinyl sheet piles do not require any maintenance and above all they are eco-friendly: made mostly with recycled PVC, about 85% of material coming from end-of-life PVC recycling, they are completely non-toxic, safe and cheaper than traditional products, such as steel sheet piles, wood, etc.
If you are interested in Greenwall PVC and its use for the construction of expansion boxes, contact us!