Floods and bridges; Is it possible to open and close bridges?

After the forest fires that started at the end of July, our country has been shaken by the flood disasters, which have now become almost traditional, in the Black Sea and eastern provinces.

While dozens of houses, buildings and bridges were destroyed due to the floods in the Black Sea, we suffered the loss of dozens of our citizens in Kastamonu and Sinop.

In my youth, I am one of the witnesses of the flood disaster that caused the death of dozens of people in Trabzon and its districts in 1990. That day, I was in my second year of high school and we took my report card from Trabzon High School and set off in a passenger minibus towards Yavuz Village, where I live, 15 km from Çarşıbaşı.

I remember very well that we had reached the house with difficulty by crossing the flood waters from two points. Although our house is in a very safe spot, we had a hard time in the morning out of fear, as the road that passed right next to us turned into a stream.

When we woke up after 2-3 hours of sleep in the morning, almost everywhere was under landslide. We sacrificed a young man from our village to a landslide. Dozens of houses were damaged. Vehicles and even pedestrians could not walk on the roads.

The main damage occurred in the district center and in the basin of İskefiye Stream close to the coast. As the first factory of our district, one of the tanks of the fishmeal and oil processing factory was caught in the flood waters, and then stuck on the bridge in the district center, causing the flood waters to turn towards the streets. Later, the bridge was also demolished and waited for a long time to be rebuilt.

Not only the bridges in our district were destroyed, but according to the news we received, the bridges in the surrounding districts suffered the same fate. However, most of the bridges from the Ottoman period were not damaged at all.

The picture we see in recent floods and inundations is the same today. While the bridges built 100 years ago remain standing without any damage, the bridges built with new technology either collapse or become clogged, causing flood waters to head towards the city centers.

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According to a study conducted jointly by academics to reveal the deaths caused by floods across Europe, 1,242 people lost their lives due to floods in Turkey between 1980 and 2018.

The flood balance of the last 3 years in the Eastern Black Sea Region is; 32 dead, 9 missing.

And in the recent flood disaster in Kastamonu, Sinop and Bartın on August 11, the loss of life rose to 82, while 16 people are still missing.

The numbers really hurt!

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Floods and floods are among the most common disasters in Turkey. Flood disasters are common in the Black Sea region, which receives the most rainfall in the country.

According to AFAD data, 177 floods and floods and 107 landslides were seen across the country last year alone. In the same period, nearly 20 percent of nature-related events were recorded as floods and floods, and nearly 12 percent as landslides.

Scientists have been saying for years that if climate change is not prevented, flood disasters will increase.

Istanbul Technical University (ITU) Meteorology Engineering Department and Disaster Management Center Faculty Member Prof. Dr. Mikdat Kadıoğlu says that climate change is used as a "scapegoat" in disasters such as forest fires and floods.

Kadıoğlu says that the increase in precipitation and the change in precipitation regimes are effective on floods, but that floods can turn into a disaster only if 3 conditions are met: danger, exposure, and vulnerability of people and structures to it.

Kadıoğlu comments that "creek beds and landslide areas are opened to more settlements", causing local people to be exposed to flood disasters.

Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) Chamber of Civil Engineers Board Member Jale Allel draws attention to two issues that cause floods: Opening natural stream beds to settlement and insufficient protection of trees.

Another issue is the hydroelectric power plants (HES) built in many streams in the Black Sea region. The effect of HEPPs on flood disasters is still unknown. Some say 'there is', some say 'it doesn't matter'.

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With the approval of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, with the circular numbered 2006/27 published in the Official Gazette on July 9, 2016, it was prohibited to cover the rivers except for essential conditions.

When President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan went to the Dereli district of Giresun, which experienced a flood last year, he criticized the houses built on the stream bed. Meeting with the flood victims, President Erdoğan criticized the houses built on stream beds and said, "If you build a house on stream beds, it will be destroyed."

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently made a statement regarding the flood disaster in the Black Sea.

Erdogan said that he has not approved the construction of houses on the creek bed since his mayoral term.

Stating that he always said not to build houses on stream beds and not to allow vertical architecture, Erdoğan said, "When we say this, we said it based on experiences in the world, not in the country." said.

Reminding that he is from the Black Sea region, Erdoğan noted the following:

"There used to be trees in Rize, these red trees used to be They cut it off, planted tea instead. They did not just plant tea, they gave nitrogen-based fertilizer while giving fertilizer to the tea. What does this nitrogen-based fertilizer do? It burns the soil, melts it, and when it comes together with the rain, it almost turns into a mush and flows away. Now we have seen all of these in these events. Now, although we have experienced these many times, no one listens, he reads what he knows again..."

Mr. President has said these words many times before. In Istanbul, Rize, Artvin, Trabzon…

Despite all these warnings, citizens read what they know. There really isn't much to do. The landslide on the slope hits the flood in the flat area (creek bed).

The fate of the region is almost…

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Despite all this, the construction of the streams continues.

Let's pass the citizen, what about the institutions of the state!

Look what they're doing!

Trabzon Metropolitan Municipality has announced that a new bus station will be built on a land of 30 thousand 144 square meters at a point very close to the stream bed on the Değirmendere basin. It was learned that Değirmendere, which is to the west of the construction, will be rehabilitated for the bus station, where 70 million lira will be spent.

The teacher's house built by the Fırtına Stream in the Çamlıhemşin district of Rize was put into service in 2017. After the last flood disaster, the area where the teacher's house is located drew a reaction. Moreover, it had a grand opening.

In the Çaykara District of Trabzon, in 2014, the old government office was demolished and a new building was built for 4.5 million liras on the riverside, which was rehabilitated with a concrete wall behind it. It's in the creek bed...

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Let's get to our main topic...

We will not go beyond the issue of construction on the stream bed. This is obvious…

While the huge tank of the factory blocked the bridge in Çarşıbaşı in 1990 and caused it to collapse, look what happened in Kastamonu, which experienced the disaster a few days ago?

The images taken when the flood waters hit the Bozkurt district for the first time actually showed the most crucial point. Because in the first moments of the flood, it was seen that the pieces of trees and logs clogged under a bridge blocked the bridge with the dam effect and the flood waters got stronger here and headed towards the district.

Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu also drew attention to this situation.

Soylu said, "There is a bridge here. The logs coming down from the top are damming in front of the bridge. After that, there is a serious flow into the city both to the right and to the left. That dirt and log cause such a process to occur."

We had the opportunity to observe the results of the bridges in many flood regions we visited as part of our profession.

For this reason, we will have a suggestion about bridges…

Engineers who are experts in this subject will reveal its feasibility more clearly.

There are bridges that open and close in the world. It is also available in our country.

Can we make the bridges that are located especially in the city and district centers where floods are experienced or in the creek bed as collapsible? Is the technology suitable for this? Can we open the bridges in order to ease the flow (to prevent clogging) as the flood waters approach, using an early warning system?..

If we can achieve this, I believe that we will take serious measures.