A Practical Approach on Reducing the Flood Impact: A Case Study from Romania

Recently, the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events have increased in many regions worldwide. Among them, floods, whose effects are devastating in many cases, have been recorded in Romania in the last few years. Built to reduce the flooding effects on the communities, structures such as embankments can sometimes accentuate the hazard. This article investigates such a situation and proposes solutions to reduce or even eliminate the flood impact on the community living in the Vărbilău Catchment in Romania. Recorded data series, field observations, GIS techniques, and hydraulic modeling were used to design the hazard maps and perform the 3D representations that illustrate the actual situation (when the small opening of the bridge favors the flooding) and the proposed solutions (extending the bridge opening and shortening the embankment). It is shown that adding seven pillars to the bridge would reduce the flooded surface by more than 1.5 times and the affected buildings’ surface by more than 3.5 times compared to the current situation.