Site News  |   Monitor Keywords  |   Monitor Archive  |   Organizer  |   Account Info  |

Berm system

Berm system description/claims

This is a non-provisional of provisional patent application No. 60/893,491, filed on Mar. 7, 2007, and priority is claimed thereto.

The present invention relates to a system for retaining water in shallow flood areas and in particular to a berm system for retaining water in flood areas and erosion prevention means against wind and wave action and the like. The berm system of the invention is adapted for use in conjunction with existing or built earth/sand berms or can also be used on its own without any further earth/sand berm for barrier against flood, or erosion resulting from wind and/or wave action. The berm system is simple and cost effective and can be installed very fast in various flood areas as well as regions requiring erosion control.

It is well known to use movable flood barriers in flood-affected regions and variety of such barrier systems are known and proposed in the art.

U.S. Pat No. 5,118,217, issued to Joseph F. Younes on Jun. 2, 1992, shows a moveable flood barrier comprising a permanent channel in the path of expected floodwaters and are normally closed by a removable cover. The barrier consists of a series of units dimensioned to be removable seated in the channel and detachably interconnected. Each unit includes at least one panel disposed to face flood waters and a reinforcement to which the panel or panels are attached. The junctions between panels are sealed and seals extend lengthwise of the barrier and are secured to the panels thereto and detachably secured to the panels thereto and detachably secured to the channel wall first in the path of the flood waters. If required, a brace for each unit is detachably secured thereto and to a permanent normally covered socket on the leeward side of the channel.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,320,455, issued to The Tenser Corporation on Jun. 14, 1994, discloses a facing panel added to a surface of a geocell, on an outboard face of the cell, exposed to free water forces. The facing panel is filled with either stone, concrete, wooden boards, plastic sheets or steel sheets. In concrete usage, synthetic drainage is introduced to prevent the buildup of hydrostatic pressures behind the facing panel. The facing panel creates the ability to construct vertical retaining walls by stacking geocell units on top of each other and then filling a facing panel with either stone or concrete for a complete wall face. The geocell units are filled with sand or shell as retained in the geocells by geotextile liners. Circular geocells also retain fill in a geotechnical structure. Circular compartments are formed by connecting plastic mesh material at points on the compartment circumference, thus producing a cylindrical confinement of granular fill. The geotechnical structure thus formed may be used in a variety of applications such as bulkheads, vertical walls, wave breaks, the side of an artificial island, confinement berms, and columns to support vertical loads.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,470,177, issued to Christopher T. Hughes on Nov. 28, 1995, discloses a barrier wall for containment of flood waters composed of multiples of modules which are easily transported to the site and erected without tools, by only a few persons with no special skills or training. Flexible coversheets, having foam seals, which conform the modules to the ground and prevent floodwaters from undercutting the ground and rendering the wall unstable, are placed on the ground. Compartmented flexible ballast cell units are placed on the cover sheets just over the seals. The edges of the coversheets are coupled together as are the ends of the ballast cell units for continuity of the wall. The ballast cells can then be filled with water, sand, earth, gravel or other available material and the front portions of the cover sheets brought up and over the ballast cells to form a wall. An additional tier can be added to double the height of the wall. When waters are expected to rise higher than twice the height of the cells, one tier of ballast cell units is used lightweight support trusses are positioned in the ballast cells before they are filled. Connectors and guy wires add stability to the trusses. The front portions of the cover sheets are then brought up and fastened to the tops of the trusses on the side facing the floodwaters. Rigid armor plate sections can be placed over the cover sheets to protect them from being damaged by floating debris. The front edges of the trusses form a catenary curve, which defines the face of the wall and serves to transmit the force of the water downward reinforcing the seal to the ground. Any number of modules can be used and will conform to the terrain.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,439,316, issued to Cecil A. Robinson on Aug. 8, 1995, proposes a reusable flood barrier to erect reusable flood barrier banks. The flood barrier comprises (a) a front panel having a front face, a rear face, a top edge, a pair of side edges, and a base; (b) a rear support attached to the rear face of the front panel to prop the front panel base, and (c) an elongated clamp removably and adjustably affixed to the front face of the front panel. The clamp has an edge disposed proximate and substantially parallel to each side edge of the front panel respectively. The clamp is capable of anchoring a long edge of an elongated interconnection gasket. The gasket is capable of placement over the gap between a side edge of the front panel of a first flood barrier and an abutting side edge of the front panel of an adjacent flood barrier. The anchoring action of the clamp on adjacent flood barrier front panels enables the gasket to provide a water seal between the front panels.

JP Application No. 09001536A2, issued to Tokyo Seiko Co. Ltd on Jan. 7, 1997, is directed to solve the problem of connecting each of adjacent flood control sack bodies definitely by setting a lower communication member and an upper communication member which are mounted on a sack main body of flood control sack bodies which are adjacent each other so that they may be engaged with each other. The application proposes provision of a specified number of floor control sack bodies laid out in series. Lower hoses and upper hoses corresponding to their adjacent sack bodies, are engaged and fixed with connectors, thereby forming flood control sack bodies having a specified length. An outlet pipe of a drain pump is connected to the lower hoses, which are positioned at one end of a protective wall. The protective wall is placed in the flow of flood in the direction.

JP Application No. 2001246009, issued to Nohmi Bosai, Ltd. on Sep. 11, 2001, is directed to form a water barrier for preventing a flood by taking water to be stopped from an intake port into a water barrier bag body formed of a flexible sheet and comprising the intake port and a vent port, and using the water as weight. According to this method, the preliminary preparation of water or earth forming the weight or heavy matter is dispensed with and therefore in the formation of the water barrier, it is not necessary to ensure the weight or heavy matter such as earth or water may not be ensured in an emergency water disaster. Further, since the forming material of the water barrier is lightweight and foldable, water stopping treatment can be rapidly performed in all water stopping places, and the removing work of the wall barrier is also facilitated.

JP Application No. 11013608, issued to Niigata Eng Co., Ltd on Jan. 19, 1999, is based on the problem to provide an aquatic life-living revetment structure capable of making flood control in the areas of the sea in rivers, lakes, marshes and seashores and, at the same time promoting the living of aquatic lives to protect an ecosystem on the shore. A brushwood gabion used for a living place of aquatic lives is provided between mounted to a riverside and a revetment wall constructed along the fill, and flowing holes used for channels making streams connected to the brushwood gabion and at the same time, used for passages of aquatic lives are formed in the revetment wall. By the constitution, sufficient strength is given to revetment works, aquatic lives such as fish, crabs, shrimps, aquatic insects, etc., enter the inside of the brushwood gabion through the flowing holes to use it as the living place, and the preservation of an ecosystem on the shore can be kept.

WO 01/71100 A1, by Holger Schalike on Sep. 27, 2001, discloses a flood protection device that is easy to store, transport and use without complications. To this end the inventive device is configured as a container that can be filled with a fluid and that has preferably flexible, liquid and/or fluid—tight interlinked outer walls defining at least one compartment.

WO 03/100175 A1, by Alojz Hanoziak on Dec. 4, 2003, teaches the provision of a mobile wall for flood protection of residential and industrial objects and territories consisting of at least two reinforcement beams, between which is fastened water—impermeable foil in such a way that its lower edge overlaps the lower footing of the reinforcement beams.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,672,799 B2, issued to Dennis Earl Milan on Jan. 6, 2004, is directed to a further system for reducing damaging wave action, preventing beach erosion, directing water in flood areas, and providing highway barriers for guidance and safety. Durable flat panels are connectable at their edges and are of appropriate shape and dimension to be quickly and simply assembled and secured into a closed hollow prismatic module configuration. A dense fill material is loaded onto the bottom panel prior to closure providing mass for strength and stability against impacts. The flat panels may be hinge ably interconnected and foldable to optionally form a compact stackable configuration for storage and transport. A multiplicity of such modules may be positioned and connected to form a continuous massive wall for the above said purposes.

It would be apparent from the above that while there are several varieties of flood prevention barriers proposed in the art, there is a continuing need for improvement in such barrier/prevention systems so as to favor easy and faster installation of such systems for effective end use/application. Importantly, it need to be ensured that while providing for the swift and easy nature of its installation the systems should be stable and does not wash away or carried away by the force of the water/wind to be acted against. Moreover, considering the conventional and readily used system of earthen berms for flood control and the like it is important to provide berm systems which can be possibly also used in conjunction with such earthen berms to add strength and stability to the conventional sand/earth berms.

It is thus the basic object of the present invention to provide a berm system which can be used either in conjunction with conventional sand/earth berms or independently on its own and adapted for simple and easy installation for retaining water in shallow flood areas and/or favor preventing erosion from wind and wave action. Another object of the present invention is to provide a berm system, which would be adapted for use as a berm shell, which can be, placed as an effective shield for existing sand/earthen berms thereby enhancing the proper and effective use/application of such conventional earthen berms.

Another object of the present invention is directed to provide for a berm system, which would be capable of holding water long enough before settling into natural water.

Yet another object of the present invention is directed to provide for a berm system having means for allowing for steady flow of water release in case the water builds up a certain height avoiding collapse/failure of the berm system.

• Provisional Patent
• Utility Patent

• What Is a Patent?
• What Is a Trademark or Servicemark?
• What Is a Copyright?
• Patent Laws