The foundation of the HPG has allowed for the polder holdings to be bundled together in one company and to more clearly define the responsibilities of the roles within the organization. Thus strengthening the special importance of private flood protection for the port.
As the owner and land user of numerous areas in the Port of Hamburg, the HPA has, to varying degrees, a presence in 13 of 38 polder communities and is solely responsible for some of them. Regarding private flood protection, the HPA has transferred its duties and other activities to the HPG.
The purpose of the HPG is to protect and carry out the construction, maintenance and repair of flood protection facilities and systems, including their structural modification. The HPG is also responsible for any necessary measures on or for the flood protection facilities in order to protect the properties located in a polder from flooding in the event of a storm surge.
Since the storm surge of 1976, which caused major damage in the Hamburg port area, the city of Hamburg has been promoting the construction of private flood protection facilities, so-called polders. Various polder communities of different legal forms have been formed for the joint management of polders that belong together.
The advantage of this privately organized flood control system is that property users in the Port of Hamburg can adapt flood protection to their company-specific requirements. Internal company processes are thus affected as little as possible. The construction, maintenance and repair of the flood control systems and, above all, their defense in storm surge situations are partly carried out by the companies themselves.
With this private flood control, the two goals - the protection of the companies and their facilities and goods against floods and the minimal restriction of their operational and production processes during floods - are achieved in the best possible way. The efficiency of the Port of Hamburg and its diverse companies thus ensures the future viability of the port in the best possible way and is thus an essential location factor of the Port of Hamburg.
Against the background of predicted increasing storm surge events with increasingly higher storm surge water levels, private flood control is becoming more and more important.
