Patent ID: 7785042

Claim:
A system for providing flood protection, the system comprising: a continuous double-walled floodwall of multiple pairs of substantially flat, sheet-type water-side inner and land-side outer piles with broad sheet faces of each pair parallel to each other and top and bottom ends, bottom ends driven or otherwise placed into the natural ground or soil at or near an edge of an area to be protected from rising water, storm surges, and/or impacts from floating objects, the substantially flat, sheet-type inner and outer piles in the multiple pairs being spaced apart transversely and being oriented with the broad sheet faces of each pair parallel to each other, with the top ends of the inner and outer piles extending above the natural ground or soil to a height at least equal to the maximum anticipated height of the water, with the bottom end of the inner pile driven deeper into the natural ground or soil than the bottom end of the outer pile, the inner pile being supported solely by the cohesion of the soil, and means for rigidly connecting the inner and outer piles of each pair at their top ends to develop, when an external force is applied to the broad sheet face of the water-side inner substantially flat, sheet-type piles of one of said multiple pairs, a force couple that places the water-side inner substantially flat, sheet-type pile of said one of said multiple pairs in tension against the cohesion of the soil and the other land-side outer substantially flat, sheet-type pile of said one of said multiple pairs in compression against the soil.