flood of ideas

Free up flood data/information. Get over the legal fears/issues.

Build more community centres higher off the ground so people can go there and not be afraid of more flooding.

Construct a flood canal from the Bremer River across Oxley Creek and along the Logan Motorway to the Bay. Put flood gates on the Bremer River and Oxley Creek to divert that water along the flood canal. Saving the Brisbane River with trying to carry the extra flood water and saving areas like Rocklea etc. from inundation from the Oxley Creek. The Logan Motorway could even be rebuilt over the top

Hydraulic lift pad to lift valuables from ground level. Rail, block, and tackle built into roof to lift items manually.

The wet marker & weather station is a digital warning and education centre that can be installed as a standalone object or fixed to existing structures such as bus stops, light poles and buildings in key flood risk public spaces. The device is activated and maintained by key government bodies allowing quick data upload from remote locations ensuring the information is up to date and relevant. O

Where flood risks are moderate, an alternative to raising habitable floors a full-storey above ground, is to consider the use of split level sections. Where living, bedroom and bathroom levels are only half a storey apart, movement between levels is much simpler and the ease of living in a taller house is improved. This scheme proposes a kitchen and dining level 1.5 metres above ground, with st

The ‘Floatable House’, designed by Matrix Design & Planning, is a conceptual proposal combining the house with a floating system. The floating system comprises three key components. 1.Movable Footing Due to the renovated structure of reverse trapezium shape struts sleeving concrete ‘mortar’, the building is sitting on the foundation rather than fixed on it. The design increases

*House on raised surface to prevent water near the house *Two water tanks-one on the property and one that can be underground *sloped roof so waer can run off *Drainage pipes under surface of the grass which collect water and lead it into the undergraound water tank *Raised house to prevent water entering house

Build things on hills.

When a flood is coming send council vans with loudspeakers up and down the streets broadcasting local water level estimates. Similar vans are sometimes used when the water mains are being turned off. This would be a more effective way of encouraging people to evacuate than only sending SES door knocking. - Our house flooded, we never saw the SES and many on our street evacuated with no belongings

Simply people need to have a plan - and not be complacent. Build canals to drain flood water to sea.

The final blog post in this series is based on the Resilient Homes category. This category seemed to resonate with people affected by the floods as the ideas are about directly combating the water, and the devastation left behind after the flood waters retreat. The ideas in this category rethink the elements that make up a typical home, both individually, and as a system. Some of these elements in

Do not build in flood prone areas

It is proposed that new buildings located on flood-able areas are to be constructed as light weight structures and are able to be lifted to safe elevation levels as water rise beneath them. The building will be placed on telescopic columns, able to withstand hydraulic pressure to displacement.  The foundations will be designed to fit lifting devices on which the structures will rest on above f

Build more dams that can hold much more water.

My idea is a rubbish machine. It cleans up the rubbish by using a blower. First it goes to a house. Then it uses the blower and sucks up the rubbish and water. Then the blower connects to the bins so when the rubbish is in the blower it falls into the bin. After that they tip the rubbish in the rubbish dump. The Rubbish Machine helps people by cleaning rubbish that the floods have made. it

When it detects a dickhead trying to drive through flood waters, it knocks them out, chucks on the breaks and sets up a road block.

Coordinate flood planning at state level. Stricter building controls. Early warning systems.

SKIP-HOUSE is designed to provide temporary accommodation for flood displaced residents. The concept is simple, REDUCE the amount of embodied energy and processing in creating a 1 in 30 year product by RE-USING an existing implementation system, materials and existing community amenities, and RECYCLE the whole lot. SKIP-HOUSE is delivered in a skip bin at the flood alert stage (rather than just

What is it? The Help Seeker is a boat that helps people in flood waters. It is operated by a well-trained person. It has rescue, clean up and high technology features. What does it do? The Help Seeker rescues people in the flood waters. To help it find people it uses a radar. It has amphibious features such as the slow moving wheels that enables it to take people to dry land. Screen techno

Install a buoyant platform the surrounds the house. During flood events the platform will float exposing a protective membrane which will stop flood water damaging the house. Design and image by Daniel Smith.

Rivers flood and urban rivers behave differently to natural waterways. One of the most significant flood causes in most river systems is the reduction in channel capacity caused by development and management. This slows down the release of urban water, exaccerbating the impact of the rural catchment. The Brisbane River recently flooded upstream to at least AHD 7.5 but in Newstead it was AHD 2.5 (a

To help flood proof Brisbane… you can use helicopters that have big buckets. These big buckets can be dipped into the Brisbane River to lower the water level and stop the water overflowing into the city. The water in the buckets can then be taken to dry land or places that need water.

This concept works with the existing site to create one system of resilience and physical environment. Currently, we have two environments, one built, one natural, when a flood occurs these environments are merged into one without time for adaption and preparation. Creating a permanent physical environment aims to merge built and natural environments but at the same time ensure two environments ar

Construct a leveled levy system to control flooding.

To flood proof Queensland… we need to build a mote around the houses/cities with underground pipes that carries the water to dams and other parts of the country that need water.

Dredge Wivenhoe to maintain maximum capacity

To flood proof Queensland we could build houses that have extendable stilts/stumps. This means that as the water rises we can just increase the height of our buildings through an automatic system by the press of a button so that the water just flows underneath.

2 and 3 story houses with power (electrics) at the top.

The Cutting Edge concept works with the existing site to create one system of resilience and the physical environment. This concept aims to provide guidance, knowledge and methods to all people worldwide by setting an example of living in flood-prone environments. Human interference and aid of support in a flooding crisis will become something of the past. This concept works with widening threshol

City Connection will provide the people of Brisbane with a flood proof Promenade that will increase the connectivity between Brisbane and its River. The design also increases the Height of the Prominent River Wall that separates the Brisbane River from the land on the East Side of Kangaroo Point (East Point). This will not only prevent future flood waters from spilling in to the Riverside homes an

This machine is called a Scraper Sucker. It is a remote controlled vehicle that scrapes up mud from the floor and sucks it into a bag. I thought of this idea because I know it would be horrible to have mud all through the house and it would feel better if it was gone. It runs on batteries so it can go all through the house. It is water proof and it has a propeller also at the back. So if ther

My idea is to pick up rubbish from after the floods. There is a truck and it has five rubbish bins at the back and it has two claws to pick up all the rubbish. The driver has controls to control all of the claws. It is called the Rubbish Pickerupper 6000. I had this idea because from the flood a lot of rubbish was swept everywhere and it was a problem for the people. The Rubbish Pickerupper 60

The land has a memory; dormant creek beds are revived as the ground reaches saturation point and stormwater runoff begins its journey to the river. An apartment or office block is not an obstacle for nature. The consequences of building in flood plains, overland flow paths and natural creek beds have not been remembered. A river city which respects the impact of flood events and plans for the r

Location: Lower River Terrace - Kangaroo Point Strategy Equilibrium is a concept that celebrates and embraces the dynamic nature of a fluid terrain. It responds to the landscape as an ephemeral, ever changing entity that is constantly shifting and evolving through time. Equilibrium is a strategy that allows natures balance to co-exist along side human flows and built infrastructure. It heig

The floods should give us cause to rethink the appropriateness of single storey housing. Two or three storey houses occupy much less site allowing more substantial vegetation, better privacy, outlook and cross-ventilation. In a flood, residents of a single storey house are more likely to lose their valuable possessions, be left with a totally inundated house and need to seek alternate accommoda

After the 1974 flood some engineers proposed that a rock wall be built in the upstream side of the Brisbane River where Oxley Creek enters the Brisbane River. Because of the direction that Oxley Creek enters the Brisbane River , unlike Breakfast Creek or Norman Creek , when the Brisbane River floods the water flows into Oxley Creek and not only fills it up but stops the flood waters from the Oxle

The individual and societal response to the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan can be studied as an example for what can be achieved in community preparedness. Japanese children undertake regular earthquake drills in schools, and the society is always ready. While the last big event was Kobe 1995, everyone was prepared in March 2011. This is a resilient country. Unfortunately, much of Bris

Imagine you are walking along a timber deck, shaded by the deep green foliage of ferns and palms, smelling the clean air and listening to birds sing while they perch amongst sub tropical flowers. This abstract master plan proposes a city where such an environment exists. As infrastructure ages or is destroyed, it is substituted with better flood adapted design. River edges, currently rigid and imp

More monitoring and controlling dam water levels prior to times of the year prone to flooding based on previous weather records and cyclical season patterns. Better risk management.

Build Dwellings in non flood plain areas. Need warnings sooner - not a flood-proofing strategy but more about safety.

1. All future housing (living areas) near river subject to flooding to be above the flood line and change height regulation. 2. Place non-return valves in storm water drains going into the river at flood prone areas. 3. Institute a general state flood-insurance scheme.

Our underground body corp basement flooded to 30cm depth. So did all the other basement carparks in our area. This flood came up through sewer and storm water over pressure caps and the building sumps didnt work because the power was out

I am constructing a house that I designed to cope with flooding among other things. My main structural concerns were wind, flooding, and soil instability and movement, followed by fire and termite resistance. The lowest level will be sacrificial non structural infill, or left for carparking, landscaping, or large family gatherings. External covering on the next two levels are corrugated steel, gla

The pylon forest serpentines and wades the wetness of the Northbank reaches of the Brisbane River. Post expressway, the pylons wade the mud suspending a riparian walk and commuting corridor for people to engage with place, to share ideas and experience Brisbanes future. Connecting people to the greater system, its functions, services and sensitivity to increase the walkable circulation between the

Introduce a flood tax for South East Queensland.

Post flood relief worked best in highly organised, connected and skilled communities - as was the case for the highly effective Graceville Community Relief group. Massive post-disaster relief should not rely on ad hoc community responses but instead be able to draw on simple, disaster-specific information that has had prior expert input: emergency services, health experts, disaster relief experts

New Farm is situated on a peninsula that is formed by the Brisbane River. Extensive damage occurred in New Farm during the January 2011 Floods and was mostly caused by the Stormwater Drain System. The flooding created an inland water body that offered low resistance. The neighbourhood suffers from flash flooding on a regularly basis after heavy rains. Raised dwellings will increase the resil

If building move onto higher ground

Prompted by the Brisbane Floods 2011, master plan has been designed and developed in response to the event. The scenario that the masterplan is based on is a flooding/hightides as a normalised event. This design piece is a section of the whole masterplan, it is the section of the Southbank beach and the adjacent Brisbane River. Lisa Diedrich’s theory landscape oriented urbanism ‘where the e

“The Urban Jungle” The current site nestled in between the Go Between bridge and the Goodwill Bridge has proved that the linear systems are offering low resistance. During flooding the disturbance exceeded the systems critical threshold level and the system tipped into a state where it was not resilient to the disturbance. In response…The riverside boardwalk has been extended from William J

There are many ways to respond after seeing the damage done by the floods in Brisbane’s past. But it’s most important that we don’t choose to do nothing. “Hands Held High” is a phrase intended to encourage people to keep themselves dry for the next flood and to put their hands up to participate with the community in making a more flood-proof Brisbane. ...Ignore There’s nothing wors

Move all land fill and land reclamation from our flood plains. Land filled by reclamation, dumps, storing of soils, rubble and recycled materials etc, in flood plains, increases future flood levels. It increases flood frequency, speeds up water flow and floods areas previously unaffected. While recycling is a way to a greener future, filling our flood plains is not environmentally sustainable.

Put houses on hills and wear life jackets to keep you safe.

Additional urban forestry and BIIPV (Building Infrastructure Integrated Photo Voltaics). Building code and urban planning relevant upgrades/implementation (mandatory when necessary)

F=Flood=Flexible Fixed+Flood=Failure

Inspired by the original 80s Safety House scheme, the idea of a Powerhouse sticker which would be nationally recognised as a source of power in an emergency situation. Constructed of solar panels and power sockets and attached to a power pole so that once it gets wet the base would float up. It would be placed on the high end of a previously flooded street and be vandal proof. It could also bec

Move the whole city 25 miles north away from the flood plain.

Water regeneration, permeable pavements that allow water to enter the groundwater and slowly enter the river system. Concrete pushes water directly into the water ways.

Move to NSW NSW is awesome