3000 Post Oak Flood Protection Plan
Innovative building protection
Project Facts
| Location | Houston, Texas |
| Owner | Riverview Realty Partners |
| Status | Completed 2016 |
Overview
Walter P Moore’s Civil and Diagnostics groups responded promptly to the 2015 Memorial Day Flood in southwest Houston. To protect critical spaces vulnerable to substantial basement flooding due to a below-grade loading dock at the nineteen-story 3000 Post Oak Building, our engineering team creatively implemented incorporating a 25-foot-wide, 2.7-foot-tall flood gate at the entrance of the loading dock which operates without requiring electricity or human intervention, offering a set-and-forget solution, as well as flood doors at the basement entrances. The installation was completed just days before the next big 2016 Tax Day flooding event, showcasing a quick and effective response.
Services
About the Project
The infamous 2015 Memorial Day Flood was heavily concentrated over southwest Houston, and within six hours had dropped 11 inches of rain on grounds already saturated from the previous two months’ heavy precipitation.
As the streets adjacent to 3000 Post Oak Building exceeded their capacity, the deluge flooded the 19-story commercial office building’s basement via the below-grade loading dock, with waters reaching 9.5 feet.
Walter P Moore’s Civil and Diagnostics groups were asked to conduct a site analysis and to fast-track a design that would protect the tower from future flooding. The combination of a below-grade loading dock that essentially invited water in and basement-level critical spaces that could not be relocated proved exceptionally challenging in determining the most resilient solution. The team surveyed the building to identify areas most vulnerable to water infiltration and conducted a runoff analysis to determine how much water would enter the site from overland flow, storm sewers, roof drainage, and from the face of the building. The final solution was to install a flood gate at the top of the loading dock and flood doors at the entrances to the basement at the loading dock.
The construction team installed the flood gates/doors only days prior to the 2016 Tax Day flooding event (dropping 16 inches of rain in less than 12 hours). Fortunately because of the placement of high-level urgency on the project, the equipment was deployed as it was needed and used during the rain event.
