Water Blocking Solutions to Protect Livelihood from Inland Flooding Caused by Torrential Rains
Bunka Shutter Co., Ltd.
| Publication date | June 15, 2021 (Posted on June 14, 2022) |
|---|---|
| Sector | Natural Disasters / Coastal Areas |
Company Overview
Bunka Shutter Co., Ltd. has been involved in metal fittings since its establishment in 1955, and is now mainly engaged in the manufacturing and sales of various types of shutters and building materials for homes and buildings. Fittings installed in the openings of buildings are the key to control fire, smoke, wind, water, and human traffic from the outside. We will continue to strive to realize a sustainable society by proposing comfortable and safe indoor environments for buildings.
Climate Change Impacts
The occurrence of large-scale natural disasters due to global warming is on the rise, and the annual precipitation in countries located in monsoon Asia continues to increase. In certain countries, flooding has become a persistent social problem, shutting down all economic and urban operations for long periods of time. Japan is no exception, and extreme weather phenomena such as large typhoons and rainfall of special warning level occur frequently almost every year in various regions, and the damage caused by flooding is becoming more serious.
Adaptation Initiatives
Since our establishment, we have been providing disaster prevention products that protect human lives and livelihoods from various types of disasters. As the damage caused by flooding due to large-scale natural disasters becomes more serious, we are supporting self-protection methods to mitigate disasters by providing water blocking solutions for various locations and applications (Fig. 1).
For large infrastructure facilities, we offer types that are specifically designed and custom-made to match the performance and size of the building, or "buoyancy undulation type water blocking plate" (Fig. 2) that responds to unmanned facility management.
We are also developing popular water blocking solutions based on the concept of "easy and quick use for anyone," such as water blocking doors that can be used as regular doors for daily access and water blocking boards that do not require installation. Other products include a simplified water stop sheet that can be attached to shutters, which can be repeatedly used and is far more efficient than sandbags to prevent flooding, and a simple watertight board (Fig. 3) that allows people to enter and exit while maintaining the watertight performance, which is mainly for commercial use. The performance and size of these popular watertight solutions are predetermined in the product specifications, so stable quality and effect of mass production can be expected.
Effects / Expected Benefits
Considering the extreme rainfall and rapidly rising river levels, speed is of the essence when it comes to flood prevention. Our popular water blocking solutions include those that senior residents or women can carry on their own, those that can be easily installed in a short period of time, and those that add water blocking functions to ordinary doors, so it is possible to respond immediately to flooding in times of emergency.
We expect our project to contribute to transportation infrastructure facilities such as airports, which will function as emergency infrastructure in the event of a large-scale disaster. We also hope to contribute to the disaster prevention and mitigation for Asian countries such as Taiwan, Vietnam, and Indonesia, where urban functions are likely to be suspended for a long period of time in the occurrence of various floods.
