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Item: Snow Nets Installed in Western North America and Designed According to the Swiss Guideline

    • Title: Snow Nets Installed in Western North America and Designed According to the Swiss Guideline

      Proceedings: International Snow Science Workshop 2014 Proceedings, Banff, Canada

      Authors:

      • Roberto Castaldini  [ Studio Tecnico di Ingegneria, Verona, VR, Italy ]
      • Alberto Grimod  [ Maccaferri Canada Ltd, Cambridge, ON, Canada ]
      • Marco Cerro  [ Maccaferri, Inc., Williamsport, MD, USA ]

      Date: 2014-09-29

      Abstract: Snow supporting structures are commonly used in the Alps to prevent the detachment of avalanches. The goal of these structures is to prevent avalanches being triggered or, at least, to prevent snow movements that could potentially lead to damage. The snow supporting structures are not designed to stop an avalanche during its motion, but, they are developed to contain the slow initial movements of the snow creating an “upslope back pressure zone” parallel to the slope. This zone is characterized by very high compression stresses. For this reason, snow supporting structures must be installed in the avalanche starting zone. Several types of snow supporting structures, approved by the Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanches Research (SFISAR) of Davos, are available in the market: snow nets, snow bridges, snow rakes. It is nowadays evident the increasing of snow net types, which are light and environmentally friendly structures composed by triangular net panel supported by steel tubular struts and bracing cables fixed to the ground by anchoring systems. These structures are designed in fully accordance with the technical Swiss Guideline (2007), thus, assuming the typical average snow density of the Alps (approx. 270 kg/m3). Whenever snow nets are foreseen in areas with characteristics different from the one recorded in the Alps, designers must adapt their snow supporting structures to the new environment. This paper describes some criteria that should be adopted during design and installation phases in order to adapt the standard structures to the Western North American snow conditions, which are characterized by an average snow density while higher (approx. to 400 kg/m3 - 500 kg/m3) than the one measured in the Alps. An actual experimental case study is presented to underline the measures considered along the Highway Interstate I90 at Snoqualmie Pass (Washington, USA).

      Object ID: ISSW14_paper_P3.36.pdf

      Language of Article: English

      Presenter(s):

      Keywords:

      Page Number(s): 1049-1057

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