Hesco barriers keep the post office dry in Burlington., Iowa
Leeds company keeps Iowa dry
Leeds-based company Hesco Bastion Ltd, which makes equipment to protect against flood and coastal erosion, has been instrumental this week in protecting key infrastructure in Iowa, USA, during the devastating floods it is experiencing
Thousands of residents have been forced to evacuate flooded homes – roughly 36,000 Iowans in 11 counties, including 25,000 in Cedar Rapids alone. 24 counties were declared federal disaster areas and there have been three confirmed deaths.
As this week's flood waters rose in Iowa, the State's National Guard ordered over five miles of HESCO Concertainer Units to replace 1.4 million sandbags, enabling them to get the defences into place as quickly as possible.
The Hesco Concertainer system consists of a linked wire mesh and fabric-lined gabion that is pulled out manually into position. "Within a matter of minutes our barriers stood rigid ready to be filled with locally available aggregate, forming a strong defence wall. We are very pleased with the protection the Hesco barriers have provided in Iowa counties in such a short space of time," commented Paula Hargadon from Hesco.
For the past 18 years, Hesco Bastion has manufactured this patented product that has been used throughout the world in a variety of applications, from blast mitigation walls to protect coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, to flood defences in USA and Europe.
