Powerful universal Tool for Crises Management developed by ARCADIS

In August of 2002 a huge flood devastated large areas of Eastern Germany within hours. Reconstruction will take years and will tie up immense human and financial resources. On behalf of Saxony's State Dam and Barrage Administration Agency, ARCADIS is responsible for project management of the entire remediation effort along rivers and streams in Saxony.

The area flooded is 665.500 ha. The total of rivers and streams is 7.000 kilometres. 14 sub-managers coordinate the joint effort of engineers from some 380 different consultancies. Stocktaking of the damage involved 50 consultancies. Their field workers recorded over 16,000 cases and took around 30,000 photos documenting the claims. More than 150 consultancies were involved in more than a thousand separate damage remediation projects.

Key instrument for the project is a dedicated database on the internet's world wide web. It was set up by ARCADIS as soon as the first damage reports started coming in. Within only one week its concept was approved and fully operational. The database now holds relevant information of some 220 registered organisations. Close to 350 user accounts have been set up and the information is accessed and/or supplemented an average 163 times a day. After completion of the actual stocktaking, the database continues to play a central role. It enables its users to track progress of all remedial projects. It also stores the relevant paperwork – contracts, invoices and much more. As additional 'goodies' it produces up-to-date statistics, which also provide monthly reporting on the project status. Specifically developed to manage the damage done by widespread flooding, this type of database may be used in the aftermath of other disasters as well. Using universal parameters – such as clear classification and precise GPS-location – it is a powerful standard tool that offers fast and problem-free data access to a large number of decentralised users.