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Item: Numerical study of the feasibility of a downslope structure to limit avalanche size during avalanche control activity

    • Title: Numerical study of the feasibility of a downslope structure to limit avalanche size during avalanche control activity

      Proceedings: Proceedings, International Snow Science Workshop, Whistler, BC, Canada, 2026

      Authors:

      • Francis Meloche  [ Institute for Geotechnical Engineering, ETH Zürich, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland. ]  [ WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, CH-7260 Davos Dorf, Switzerland. ]  [ Climate Change, Extremes, and Natural Hazards in Alpine Regions Research Center CERC, CH-7260 Davos Dorf, Switzerland. ]
      • Ron Simenhois  [ Colorado Avalanche Information Center, CAIC, CO, USA. ]
      • Don Sharaf  [ Avalanche Risk Solutions (ARS), Utah, United-States. ]  [ David Hamre and Associates, LLC, Alaska, United-States ]
      • Ethan Greene  [ Colorado Avalanche Information Center, CAIC, CO, USA. ]
      • Johan Gaume  [ Institute for Geotechnical Engineering, ETH Zürich, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland. ]  [ WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF, CH-7260 Davos Dorf, Switzerland. ]  [ Climate Change, Extremes, and Natural Hazards in Alpine Regions Research Center CERC, CH-7260 Davos Dorf, Switzerland. ]

      Date: 2026-09-28

      Abstract: Avalanche defense structures in starting zones are effective, but they are also expensive and visually intrusive; as a result, many highway programs instead rely on active control with explosives. Recent work has shown that crack propagation in the cross-slope direction is slower than in the downslope direction, suggesting that a downslope-oriented structure could arrest propagation and limit release size at a fraction of the cost and visual impact of conventional defense structures. We tested this concept with more than 300 depth-averaged Material Point Method simulations on a simple planar slope, an analytical bowl, and real terrain (Stanley Path, Colorado). We present results considering only buried structures, which locally reduce slab depth and promote tensile fracture of the slab. The slab depth covering the structure was the dominant control, with arrest occurring below 0.15–0.30 m depending on the initial slab density; the structure ratio (height over width) acted as a secondary control, with values of at least 0.5 favoring arrest. The downslope length of the structure should extend to where the slope angle drops below the snow friction angle, and any remaining unprotected gap should not exceed twice the supercritical crack length (≈ 10–15 m at 30°). These results provide a first set of quantitative design guidelines for a new class of downslope-oriented mitigation structures.

      Object ID: ISSW2026_P1.51.pdf

      DOI: https://doi.org/10.15788/1790098836

      Language of Article: English

      Presenter(s): Francis Meloche

      Keywords: Crack arrest, avalanche mitigation structures, release size, numerical modelling, depth-averaged Material-Point-Method.

      Page Number(s): 1967 - 1973

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