Kindergarten / Dillenburg – Oberscheld

When the water rises …

An increasing number of property owners are installing flood protection systems. With rainfall becoming more intense and the risk of flooding ever-present, businesses and residential buildings near rivers require secure, practical, and flexible flood protection more than ever before.

The Haiger-based company WKT, located in the central Hessian Lahn-Dill-Bergland region—which was hit particularly hard by a once-in-a-century flood in 2006—has extensive expertise in planning and coordinating flood protection construction projects. Their latest project: installing an appropriate system for the Evangelical Kindergarten in Dillenburg – Oberscheld.

Many residents of Dillenburg still feel the shock in their bones. Every time it rains heavily, memories resurface of the events on September 17, 2006, when many parts of the city were overwhelmed by water. The kindergarten in Oberscheld was hit particularly hard.

Now, the Evangelical Church has installed an innovative flood protection system to be prepared for any future threatening rise of the Schelde River.

Which Flood Protection System is Suitable?

The requirements and questions surrounding such a project are complex:

• Which systems and providers are available?
• What specific site conditions need to be considered?
• Who will coordinate the necessary, often parallel, construction activities?
• Who will oversee the project timeline and costs?
• Who can assist me on-site?
• Who is even capable of handling all of this?

This investment requires careful consideration and must be built on a solid foundation. After all, a flood protection system needs to remain functional, reliable, and ready for immediate use in emergencies for many decades.

Role Model: Flood Protection on the Elbe

The church found a reliable partner in WKT from Haiger, a company with extensive experience in planning and executing detailed construction projects. Together with the Dillenburg architecture firm Siegbert Werner, WKT proposed a proven system to the Oberscheld community—one that had already been installed by many Elbe residents after the major flood of 2002. Examples include the Elbresidenz in Bad Schandau and the Dresden Zwinger.

The planning and coordination were handled by the Haiger-based construction specialists in close collaboration with the Dillenburg architects. The advantage: Both partners, as local contacts from the region, were always available quickly and reliably.

“Delays or unforeseen events can occur in any construction project,” explains WKT Managing Director Jürgen Dietz. “We ensure the client can focus on their priorities without worry.”

And in the future, it will also keep feet dry. The installation of the mobile flood protection system was successfully completed in recent days. The system uses aluminum flood barriers with integrated sealing profiles, which are stacked in side guide rails up to the planned water height. This creates a stable protective wall to seal against flooding, which, in the event of an emergency, can be quickly and easily set up and dismantled by a trained flood protection team.

For businesses, public developers, and private property owners

Nevertheless, all parties involved hope that it will remain limited to emergency drills, and that the flood protection elements will spend the rest of the time dry in their storage space. The project goal of the client has certainly been achieved: the secure feeling of no longer being helpless in the face of potential flooding.

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Source: Engelhardt + Engelhardt Corporate Diction