Companies have developed lighter water bars and sandbags to mitigate the heavy lifting involved in preventing homes and factories from being flooded in typhoons and downpours.
Companies have developed lighter water bars and sandbags to mitigate the heavy lifting involved in preventing homes and factories from being flooded in typhoons and downpours.
Mitsubishi Plastics Infratec Co., a manufacturer of water tanks, cooling towers and other equipment, will begin selling water bars that are about half the weight of conventional products this summer.
Each bar, made of vinyl chloride resin and reinforced by stainless steel, weighs 8 kilograms. It is 0.3 meter high and 1.5 meters wide. Up to three bars can be set up vertically to make a shield about 1 meter tall.
The bars can also be used to heighten levees along rivers and waterways only when flooding is expected, particularly in downtown areas, where high walls are often an eyesore.
Keystone Co., a producer of emergency supplies, is selling Dashbag, a sandbag that weighs only 400 grams.
When polymers inside absorb water, the hemp bag swells to 15 kilograms and provides a defense against flooding.
The company has received many inquiries from businesses and households, in addition to local governments, since the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
“Awareness is growing that residents need to mitigate damage on their own in the event of tsunami and local heavy rains,” President Nobuaki Hosoe said.