[SystemSafety] Floods and Electrics

Mon Dec 28 12:43:14 CET 2015

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In an article in the Guardian about the floods in York, at
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/dec/27/floods-army-called-continue-devastate-northern-england
,  I read about the flood barrier on the River Foss that

[begin quote]

Problems arose at the weekend at the Foss barrier and pumping station, which controls river levels
by managing the interaction between the rivers Foss and Ouse. In a model that is commonplace
around the country, pumps behind the barrier are supposed to pump the water clear. The station
became inundated with floodwater after the volume exceeded the capacity of the pumps and flooded
some of the electrics, according to an Environment Agency spokesperson, who said that a helicopter
was due to airlift in parts to complete repairs on Monday.

[end quote]

It is particularly ironic that flood-control measures are rendered ineffective through flooding of
their controls. But it's not a one-off.

At the beginning of this month, much of the city of Lancaster (and reportedly 55,000 people) were
left without power when an electricity substation in Caton Road was flooded in a previous storm
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-lancashire-35020049

Roger Kemp's take on the Lancaster affair is at
http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/news/blogs/roger-kemp/who-decided-to-put-lancasters-main-electrical-substation-next-to-the-river/

There is more to consider. Lots more.

I have a few more words at http://www.abnormaldistribution.org/2015/12/28/water-and-electricity/

PBL

Prof. Peter Bernard Ladkin, Faculty of Technology, University of Bielefeld, 33594 Bielefeld, Germany
Je suis Charlie
Tel+msg +49 (0)521 880 7319  www.rvs.uni-bielefeld.de