A Review on Heavy Duty Mobile Flood Wall Barrier: Way Forward for Malaysia

Climate change have led to extreme weather events such as higher rainfall frequency that can cause severe flooding. In Malaysia, there is an increasing trend on extreme rainfall events and short temporal rainfall, particularly during the inter-monsoon season. In order to protect private properties and public premises from flooding, Mobile Flood Wall Barrier (MFWB) has been found to be more suitable as it is less costly, easier to deploy and does not require large space. Buildings such as factories and commercial shops that have larger entrances, they would require heavy-duty type of MFWB as compared to those for residential buildings. Heavy-duty MFWB has a better ability to withstand higher hydrostatic pressure from floodwater, hence suitable for public premises and buildings in industrial and commercial areas. In this paper, various types of heavy-duty MFWB and their application will be presented and discussed. The standards for testing MFWB products presented in this paper are summarised. Some existing testing requirements are also presented. Based on the review, the mobility characteristic indicated that the heavy MFWB can be installed temporarily to prevent flooding and be removed easily to ensure no interruption to the daily activities after flood events. There are many potential advantages for flood protection, in particular, it serves as the way forward for Malaysia.