Applications

Flood Protection for Shopping Centers

A shopping center (shopping centre) combines basement parking, many public entrances, loading docks and street-level tenancies on one site. These are the barriers we propose for each type of opening across it.

Request a QuoteView Products
Automatic flood barrier raised across a covered parking ramp beside city towers at night in heavy rain

Where water gets in

The openings to plan for

  • Ramps down to basement and undercroft parking levels
  • Public entrances and concourse doors at ground level
  • Loading docks and service corridors at the back of the center
  • Street-facing tenancies with their own entrances

Barriers that suit this site

Products to consider

Automatic Flood Barrier System

Automatic Flood Barrier System

Water-level sensing raises an electrically powered hydraulic barrier across the parking ramp, and it is lowered and reset by remote control or a central control switch that the security or facilities team can operate. The top can be paved, so the ramp looks unchanged in normal use.

Best for: Parking ramps with a central control room

View Automatic Flood Barrier System →
Hydrodynamic Passive Flood Barrier

Hydrodynamic Passive Flood Barrier

Floodwater lifts the panel by buoyancy and it lowers again under its own weight, with no power, motors or operator involved. It is trafficable to 20 tonnes GVM (about 44,000 lb) when lowered, and an optional alarm flashes and sounds when water reaches it.

Best for: Ramps and service entries after hours

View Hydrodynamic Passive Flood Barrier →
Aluminum Flood Barriers

Aluminum Flood Barriers

Made-to-measure panels close entrances and service doors up to 2,000 mm (about 6.5 ft) high, with rubber seals clamped against the frame and floor. One person can fit a set in under 10 minutes, and the panels lift out once the water has gone.

Best for: Mall entrances and loading docks

View Aluminum Flood Barriers →

Choosing between them

Parking ramps usually suit an automatic or passive barrier, because they carry traffic every day and lead down to the lowest level of the site. The automatic barrier fits centers with a staffed control room, and the passive barrier suits ramps where nobody may be watching when the water arrives.

Public entrances and loading docks are usually closed with aluminum sets, made for each opening and stored on site. Each set needs a person to fit it, so with many entrances it helps to plan who fits which set and in what order.

Tenancies with their own street doors can be treated like individual stores, with aluminum, ABS or Oxford barriers depending on whether the tenant can fix anything to the shopfront.

What we need to quote

  • Width and height of each opening
  • Photos of each opening and the ground on both sides
  • How high the water has reached before, or the flood height to plan for
  • Whether power is available at the opening, and what traffic crosses it
  • The city and country of the site
Request a Quote →

FAQ

Questions we hear about shopping centers and malls

Can the ramp barrier be monitored from a control room?
The automatic barrier is lowered and reset by remote control or a central control switch. The passive barrier has an optional alarm with a water-level detector that flashes and sounds when floodwater reaches it.
Does fitting a ramp barrier mean closing the car park for long?
Both barriers sit in a shallow recess rather than a deep pit, which keeps excavation small, and on an existing slab the passive barrier can be surface-mounted with a ramp on each side instead. Timing depends on the site, so we discuss it once we have seen the ramp.
Can you quote for the whole center at once?
Yes. Send a site plan or a list of openings with sizes and photos, and we will propose a barrier for each one, quoted per opening or per site.

Send the opening sizes and a few photos.

We reply within 1 business day with a recommendation for each opening and a quote for the whole site.

Request a Quote