Inflatable Pipe Plugs prevent Chicago City Flood in underground train tunnels.
When Chicago had a small leak in an empty tunnel, it increased and started
to flood. Eventually it poured throughout the entire tunnel network. Over
250,000 people had to be evacuated from the buildings above the flood which
caused almost $2 billion in damages. To
dry the tunnels, this took an additional 6 weeks.
Imagine if this occurred in Melbourne’s underground…. the cost in lives
and infrastructure would be enormous.
Technology in the inflatable arena has stepped up to the plate to
provide an innovative and immediate solution to this very serious threat to
Melbourne’s underground section of its train system. To isolate or seal a part of a train system’s
underground tunnel is imperative and must be able to occur at any given moment before
flooding can become a danger and a threat.
To attempt to retrofit removable doors will be too costly and tie up the
transit system for a long period of time
Because underground tunnels have uneven surfaces due to the tracks,
pipes, lights etc, the design of the seal needed to cater for this
irregularity.
The solution is a giant inflatable pipe plug to seal off flooding
or dangerous gases in underground tunnels. The inflatable pipe plug is affordable,
easy to install, and can be inflated at a moment’s notice. Its added benefit is that once deflated, it
packs away to the size of a pallet which can easily be stored in the
underground tunnel until required for an emergency, always on standby.
Because the pipe plug is flexible, it can fill in all the irregular
surfaces to give a complete seal. The
material needs to be flexible and big enough to fill all the crevices but not
too big so that water can seep through crevices formed in folding the material.
Added to the irregular tunnel, a flooded tunnel contains a lot of water
pressure and the pipe plug needs to be able to restrain that backpressure. Again the inflatable pipe plug design and
fabric satisfied these complications.
Three separate layers using a commercially available fabric meant the
pipe plugs were affordable.
These plugs are now available for major metro tunnel systems
worldwide. For more information, contact
Giant Inflatables Industrial at 1300 463 528 or email at industrial@giantinflatablesindustrial.com.au.
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