Flood: a system of jacks to protect underground car parks

After the severe bad weather this weekend in the Gard, we will focus on innovations in flood control.

We may have found a solution to save underground car parks from flooding.

With climate change and the rise of rivers, more and more cities are working on sponge cities, which drain water to underground reservoirs to limit the effect of floods.

The problem is that this generally leads to the sacrifice of underground parking lots.

The Danish architects of Third Nature had a very simple idea: to install floating parking lots on these underground tanks, with a garden above.

So 99% of the time, at ground level, we will only see a classic garden with underground parking.

But in the event of a flood, as the whole structure is floating, it will rise, come out of the ground, to allow water to accumulate in the reservoir below.

The car park will therefore never be flooded.

It will turn into an outdoor parking lot.

Is the water from a flood sufficient to lift an entire underground car park?

Yes, this is Archimedes' principle.

With the pressure, the water will push the whole structure as if it were a hydraulic piston.

Then the car park will descend, very slowly, while the sewers are able to absorb the excess water.

It will become underground again and its doors will be able to open again.

The project is called Pop-Up.

A concept was presented two years ago.

But now that the car entry and exit problems have been sorted out, a first 200-space car park will be built in Copenhagen.

It is closely followed by cities around the world, as it has the advantage of mining underground.

This is critical in the city where there is a huge lack of space.

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