Multilevel debris ow barrier

Multilevel exible debris ow barrier installation Milibach, Hasliberg / Switzerland

Photo documentation/ /Mrz Foto-Dokumentation September 2007 2008

Multilevel debris ow barrier / Photo documentation / September 2008

Multilevel exible debris ow barrier Milibach, Hasliberg, Switzerland

10. October 2011

Multilevel debris ow barrier holds back 2,000 m3 of debris following exceptionally heavy rain On October 10, 2011, heavy rainfall triggered a shallow landslide containing a total of 2,000 m3 of Alenienschiefer (schist) in the drainage area of the Milibach river. 80 mm of rain had fallen in the space of 12 hours on top of a 70 cm layer of snow from the previous day. The Swiss Federal Ofce for the Environment (FOEN) rated these heavy rainfalls as a once-in-a-century occurrence. As recently as August 22, 2005, a storm in the Weiler Reuti and in Meiringen caused serious debris coverage and severe damage. A cascade comprising 13 exible debris ow barriers and with a retention volume of up to 10,000 m3 was installed to protect the two settlements. For details, please turn to page 4. This multilevel debris ow barrier system successfully held back the latest event of October 10, 2011, stopping an estimated 2,000 m3 of debris before the shallow landslide had had chance to build up signicant erosive force, as happened in 2005. The event lled barrier no. 2 completely and barrier no. 5 partially. Barrier 1, which was situated above where the shallow landslide was triggered, remained unaffected, while barriers 3 and 4 were not lled up as they have a higher basal opening. Stopping the 2,000 m3 of debris in good time helped prevent the shallow landslide further eroding the unstable banks of the Milibach river and forestalled an even greater shallow landslide that could have caused damage to the settlements further downstream. After an in-depth investigation during an on-site inspection, the customer decided to leave barrier no. 2 lled to protect the riverbanks. The debris held by barrier no. 5 is also to be left and should be carried away over time as the water drains naturally.

Satellite image of the storm that moved across the northern Swiss Alps on October 10 (source: SF Meteo website)

Barrier no. 2 was lled by a landslide triggered nearby.

Barriers no. 2 and 5 held back a total of 2,000 m3 of material.

Multilevel debris ow barrier / Photo documentation / September 2008

Multilevel debris ow barrier Milibach, Hasliberg, Bernese Oberland / Switzerland

Floods and a debris ow event occurred in the Milibach torrent on August 22, 2005 which resulted in serious debris coverage and damage in the Weiler Reuti / Hasliberg and in Meiringen. The Milibach torrent above Reuti comprises of two creek sections, the Lauenenbach being situated in the upper drainage area in the Alenienschiefer (schist). Due to the large amount of precipitation, a total of some 13 000 m3 of loose material became detached through water saturation in ca. 1 hour which then owed downhill as a mudow in two to three batches (muddy debris ow, rich in ne material). After the devastating rainfalls a suitable barrier system for debris ow retention had to be evaluated. On the basis of various criteria the coordinators decided in favor of a series of high-tensile ring net barriers from Geobrugg. As support for the design fundamentals the Federal Research Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape (WSL) in Birmensdorf carried out physical model trials parallel to the project planning. Between autumn 2007 and summer 2008, over a 500 m long axis, thirteen ring nets with heights of up to 7 m were mounted in series down the torrent section. The exact sites were evaluated in the eld. The upstream side of the rst net is designed primarily for energy conversion on the occurrence of a debris ow. In some cases this rst net is destroyed and overowed. The remaining nets are activated in stages. Back-lled nets are overowed by subsequent events and act like lled concrete abutments. In an emergency this net system with thirteen barriers retains a total of 10 000 m3 derived from the starting zone.

22. August 2005

Position of the thirteen barriers

Debris ow starting zone

Marking off

Drilling in progress

Multilevel debris ow barrier / Photo documentation / September 2008

Ring net installation

Anchor foundation

Ringnet ready for transportation by helicopter

End of installation in August 2008

Rockfall barriers Rockfall drapes Slope stabilization systems Debris ow barriers Avalanche prevention structures Open pit rockfall barriers Special applications

Geobrugg protects people and infrastructures from the forces of nature It is the task of our engineers and partners to analyze the problem together with you in detail and then, together with local consultants, to present solutions. Painstaking planning is not the only thing you can expect from us, however; since we have our own production plants on three continents, we can offer not only short delivery paths and times, but also optimal local customer service. With a view towards a trouble-free execution, we deliver preassembled and clearly identied system components right to the construction site. There we provide support, if desired, including technical support from installation right on up until acceptance of the structure.

A company of the BRUGG Group

Certied to ISO 9001

1.203.03.EN.0809

Geobrugg AG Geohazard Solutions Aachstrasse 11 CH-8590 Romanshorn Phone +41 71 466 81 55 Fax +41 71 466 81 50 www.geobrugg.com info@geobrugg.com