'Adaptive' Housing For Flood-Prone Areas

Using a steel dock-like structure and blocks of Styrofoam, a Louisiana professor has designed housing that avoids flood-damage by moving with rising water.

1 minute read

May 1, 2007, 7:00 AM PDT

By Nate Berg

"In effect, the system of Louisiana State University engineering professor Elizabeth English works like a floating dock. When flooding occurs, the house is lifted above the water by flotation blocks beneath the home. The house settles to ground level when the flooding recedes."

"Experts are calling the proposal a 'more sophisticated version' of what flood-prone communities in many countries have used for decades - attaching homes to stilts."

"Moreover, English said, setting homes at street level makes them fit in better with neighboring structures, helping to preserve a neighborhood's culture."

FULL STORY: Louisiana professor proposes idea for making houses floodproof

Saturday, April 28, 2007 in The Seattle Times

Architecture Housing Louisiana

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