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<br />82. Construction details must be considered carefully if any flood- <br /> <br /> <br />proofing system is to work properly. For example, fabric laps must be very <br /> <br />carefully sealed, drains properly installed, and all construction adequately <br /> <br /> <br />braced. Merely sealing to the extent that it is believed the barrier will <br /> <br /> <br />work is not sufficient when attempting to make a barrier impermeable to a head <br /> <br />of water. If attention is not paid to these details and the possibility of a <br /> <br /> <br />leak is present, it is highly probable that a leak will occur. <br /> <br /> <br />83. The backwater valve worked well. It was found that it is important <br /> <br /> <br />to embed the pipe in the filter material such that fines are not leached away <br /> <br /> <br />and the filter will pass clear water easily. An appropriate filter cloth <br /> <br /> <br />should be used to cover the filter material to help in stopping the movement <br /> <br />of fines and to produce an effective filter. <br /> <br /> <br />84. No holes should be placed in the fabric by screws, nails, etc. when <br /> <br /> <br />connecting the system to the house, since doing so produces a possibility for <br /> <br /> <br />leaks. <br /> <br />Conclusions <br /> <br />85. With a few improvements, the test system would be satisfactory for <br /> <br /> <br />protecting existing homes in floodplains from up to 3 ft of floodwaters. <br /> <br /> <br />During the prototype test, only a small amount of water got into the house, <br /> <br />and the cause of leaks was determined and can be corrected. The house stayed <br /> <br /> <br />essentially dry and no damage occurred. In a real flooding situation, the <br /> <br /> <br />limited dampness could have been removed and the house would have been back to <br /> <br /> <br />normal. A permanently installed system, such as the one used in this test, is <br /> <br />very desirable because of its speed and ease of implementation and because of <br /> <br /> <br />decreased possibilities of water leaks. <br /> <br />Recommendations <br /> <br />86. Onsite tests should be performed, and the results should be used in <br /> <br /> <br />graphical charts to determine the depth of fabric cutoff barrier for manage- <br /> <br /> <br />able underseepage. The sump pump can then be selected based on the expected <br /> <br />underseepage. A safety factor of two should be used in sump-pump selection. <br /> <br />25 <br />