Flood protection around Dresden old town completed

Flood protection around Dresden State Opera (Semperoper)

The city of Dresden is located on several rivers which have regularly burst their banks in recent years. That’s why the city and state have been investing in flood protection measures for several years. Particular importance is being attached to protecting Dresden’s historical old town district, home not only to the Zwinger palace, the Semperoper opera house and Saxony’s state parliament building but also to numerous shops and restaurants.

As part of an extensive project, the Dresden old town has been protected on the Elbe side from the Terrassenufer embankment near the Congress Center to behind the “Radeberger Spezialausschank” bar using a combination of demountable flood defenses and inflatable plastic tubes. As a result, the remaining open point near the entrance to the underground parking garage for the state opera house on Devrientstrasse has now been closed using thyssenkrupp’s demountable aluminum stop log system.

There were various requirements to be met in Dresden’s world-famous old town. The flood defenses had to blend in well with the historic townscape while at the same time protecting valuable cultural landmarks against flooding. The challenge was to design the mounting points in such a way as to be more or less invisible, while at the same time making it possible to mount the protection walls quickly and simply in the event of rising waters.

thyssenkrupp’s aluminum stop log system comes into its own in areas where fixed installations would often be a hindrance. When flood events are relatively few and far between, expensive permanent solutions can be dispensed with in favor of our demountable systems. When floods threaten, the stop logs are installed at the designated points. Once the waters have receded, the stop logs are removed and stored for the next time – and all without the need for special tools or specially trained personnel. Intelligent storage and logistics plans are also provided for quick and reliable deployment.