SPS Flood Panels Use New Technology Designed to Withstand Hurricane Floods

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JUPITER, Fla., April 30, 2015 – Flood Panel LLC was selected by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) to provide flood protection for small businesses hardest hit by Hurricane Sandy across the city’s five boroughs. Flood Panel was one of 11 organizations chosen from 200 applicants for the city’s $30 million federally-funded Resiliency Innovations for a Stronger Economy (RISE : NYC) competition, a program to find the world’s most promising resiliency technologies to prepare businesses for future storms, sea level rise and other effects of climate change.

Flood Panel designed a new and innovative flood barrier system for New York that incorporates an advanced polyurethane Sandwich Plate System® (SPS) technology to provide a robust barrier against water infiltration that can withstand hydrostatic pressure, waves and the impact of floating debris. The modular SPS Flood Panels are thin and lightweight for easy storage, simple installation, and efficient deployment by businesses before a storm event.

“SPS Flood Panels give small businesses the protection they need to keep flood waters from entering their buildings, allowing business operation and continuity to remain intact with minimal interruption due to a natural disaster,” said Tom Osborne, CEO of Flood Panel. “Small business owners will have the peace of mind that their buildings and computers, furniture and other business-related equipment will be safe from the type of devastation they suffered from Hurricane Sandy.”

“RISE : NYC is part of the City’s comprehensive suite of initiatives to mitigate the effects of severe weather and climate change on New Yorkers, and all of the winning technologies will help support and strengthen small businesses across the City,” said NYCEDC President Kyle Kimball. “Each of the 11 innovative winning technologies will make the City a safer, stronger and more resilient place, creating economic support and additional opportunities for New Yorkers and small businesses.”

Flood Panel created a project team with four companies to oversee the technology proposal and implementation process for the RISE : NYC project.

The Flood Panel team included:

• William Brown LLC – General contractor, Flood Panel dealer. Managed the implementation process of the proposed technology for the RISE : NYC project.
• e2 Engineers – Structural engineering services.
• Koenen & Associates – Owners’ representative and project management services.
• FS Project Management – Management services for commercial buildings.

The team reached out to 57 small businesses in New York City that met flood zone eligibility requirements and with gross annual receipts of $25.5 million or less.

Flood Panel expects demand for SPS Flood Panels and other flood mitigation solutions to grow beyond New York to additional cities with greater flood risk due to global warming including Boston, Baltimore, Charleston, Norfolk, New Orleans, Tampa, Miami, Houston, Mobile, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

SPS Flood Panel Design

SPS Flood Panels are the only flood barriers to use the patented SPS technology developed by Intelligent Engineering (IE) using BASF polyurethane. SPS Flood Panels are fabricated using a custom-made aluminum extrusion, which is injected with a polyurethane (PU) elastomer to create a composite-thin, lightweight and impact-resistant panel. The PU “sandwich” enables the SPS Flood Panel to dissipate stress and absorb impact loads more effectively than conventional systems, preventing the thin aluminum walls from buckling under pressure.

SPS Flood Panels are designed with integrated seals to withstand excessive handling and multiple installations. The system is fully interchangeable with replaceable seals, minimizing upkeep and maintenance, and ensuring the system will remain in service for many years.

The thin profile of the panels and supports is unobtrusive and easily incorporates into facades, doors or foundations. The system can also be installed with completely removable supports if desired by the business. The panels can be deployed manually, require minimal storage space, and can be stacked for storage with any supporting restraints, seals, clamps and locking mechanisms.

About Intelligent Engineering Ltd

IE invented and patented the Sandwich Plate System® (SPS) and works with its partners to develop SPS applications across the civil engineering, maritime and offshore markets. SPS has been referred to as “the first new materials technology for heavy engineering in 150 years.” IE has conducted thousands of tests to prove the performance of SPS and obtain approval for its use. The IE team consists of more than 60 professionals based in Europe, North America and Asia. For more information, visit www.ie-sps.com.

About BASF

BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has more than 17,000 employees in North America, and had sales of $20.6 billion in 2014. For more information about BASF’s North American operations, visit www.basf.us.

About Flood Panel LLC

Flood Panel LLC designs and manufactures high-quality flood protection products for commercial construction projects. Flood Panel provides a consultancy approach that includes an approved network of installers, structural engineers, architects and distributors, a complete range of flood product supplies, expert flood protection analysis including Flood Emergency Response Plans, and a highly-trained project management team to provide assistance from pre-construction through post installation and maintenance. For more information, visit www.floodpanel.com.

 

Contact:  Susan Rash, [email protected]