New centre puts rock barriers to the test
The Swiss authorities are conducting a series of tests to determine the effectiveness of protective barriers against the dangers of rock fall. On Thursday, they opened a new test centre at Lochezen in canton St Gallen.
At the testing ground, the efficiency of steel ring fences is tested by dropping ten tonne lumps of concrete from high cranes at impact speeds of up to 90 kilometres an hour.
If the nets perform satisfactorily, they will receive an official seal of approval.
“There are all sorts of elements involved in performance which you just can’t calculate without a test” said Reto Baumann, president of the federal commission for rockfalls and avalanches.
The new installation, which cost SFr2.2 million, is the result of a collaboration between the federal environment agency, the Swiss research institute WSL, and a private company, Fatzer Geobrugg, based in Romanshorn.
Nature generally offers the best form of defence against rock slides in the form of trees. More than half of Switzerland’s 12,000 square kilometres of forest serve a protective function and some SFr40 million a year is invested for this purpose.
by Vincent Landon
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