3.4.3 FAILURE OF MOBILISATION
The objective of mobilisation is to ensure all personnel, material and plant required for
erecting or closing a temporary or demountable protection system are on site before the
commencement of the closure protocol. For fully automated demountable systems, there is no
mobilisation phase. For all other non-permanent systems requiring some form of human
operational intervention, this is a necessary phase for successful closure. The time available
for mobilisation will depend on the steepness of the flood hydrograph (the rate at which local
river levels rise after a storm).
The failure of mobilisation will occur if the call-out system fails or if resources such as
operatives, equipment and material are unable to reach the barrier location before the time for
commencement of closure or installation.
The mobilisation period can be reduced by the following actions:
• Automation of part of the call-out and mobilisation processes.
• On-site or local storage of temporary barriers or demountable sections and any other
materials required for the composite protection system.
• Regular training and emergency exercises.
• Improved access to the barrier storage and deployment locations.
• Improved communication systems.