Inspired by an effective anti-flooding wall produced in Germany, He Lijun, a geological engineer with China University of Geosciences in Wuhan, spent one full month developing his own anti-flooding wall. He built the prototype using just 200,000 yuan, which he collected himself.

The testing ground for the wall was Wuchang Road in Jiangxia. First, a cement wall was carefully attached to clay dams, forming a small enclosure. Then, a large amount of water was injected inside the wall to form a pond. The area inside anti-flooding wall was filled with water up to 1.8 meters, yet there was little water seepage outside the wall.

"Through calculations and testing, [the wall] is able to protect against water up to 2 meters high," He explained. "And compared to the German anti-flooding wall, mine does not have so many special requirements." The German anti-flooding wall can only be used in areas with hard subsoil. For clay dams, it cannot work.

"From conception to completion, it took less than one month," He said. Discussing the original conception of the design, He said that he took inspiration from the German wall. In order to finish the project, he collected money from friends and invited four engineers to collaborate on the wall's design and construction.

After just two rounds of testing, He met his flood prevention goal on July 31. Now he has applied for a national patent.