Terranova Develops Terraforming Robots to Save Cities from Flooding

Terranova Inc. (“Terranova”), a new startup, is developing an alternative solution for cities at risk of flooding. The company is building robots that will inject a slurry of wood waste into the ground, slowly lifting the land to correct historical subsidence and previously repaired ground movement, aimed at preventing those parts of the city from flooding in the future.

With rising sea levels threatening cities worldwide, more than 300 million people are at risk of routine flooding by 2050. Terranova’s solution of raising the city provides an alternative to the expensive exercise of building seawalls to hold back the risking water levels, which could cost upwards of US$400 billion in the United States alone.

Terranova’s pitch is that it has revolutionized the traditional strategy of raising cities to prevent flooding by making it more affordable, leveraging wood as a low-cost, easy to maintain material. While experts have raised concerns that the wood slurry will exaggerate earthquake shocks, Terranova’s CEO, Laurence Allen, asserts that its wood slurry technique will help mitigate earthquakes as compared to sea walls.