Bosbrand in de Gironde, Frankrijk
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In early August 2019, part of the dam at Toddbrook Reservoir near Whaley Bridge, Derbyshire, partially collapsed after a heavy storm. With over 300 million liters of water held back by the weakened dam, authorities ordered the evacuation of 1,500 residents. A full collapse of the dam would have led to severe flooding and widespread destruction downstream. This made flood prevention the primary task for the emergency services.
They worked around the clock to stabilize the situation and lower the water level in the reservoir as quickly as possible. This was critical to relieve pressure on the damaged structure and reduce the risk of further erosion.
Hytrans played a key role in this emergency. A total of 20 mobile HydroSub 150 units were deployed to Whaley Bridge. Working from 4 different points along the reservoir to pump vast volumes of water from the reservoir. Each pump was pumping away 7000 liters of water per minute.
Continuous heavy rainfall during the operation made the situation even more critical: not only was the dam at risk, but new rainwater kept increasing the water level. This meant even more water had to be removed, under increasing time pressure. At the same time, military helicopters were used to drop large bags of sand and aggregate into the damaged section of the dam to provide temporary reinforcement. The combination of water level reduction and structural stabilization was essential to prevent collapse.
This time, the Hytrans systems proved their value in flood prevention and the importance
of mobile water management in high-risk civil infrastructure scenarios.
