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Debris Flow & Shallow Landslide Protection - Cape Horn, State Road 14 2017

Cape Horn Viewpoint of Columbia River Gorge

Debris Flow & Shallow Landslide Protection - Cape Horn, State Road 14 2017

SR-14 drainage prior to 2017 debris flow event

Debris Flow & Shallow Landslide Protection - Cape Horn, State Road 14 2017

SR-14 drainage after 2017 debris flow event

Debris Flow & Shallow Landslide Protection - Cape Horn, State Road 14 2017

Drainage after the 2017 debris event prior to construction

Debris Flow & Shallow Landslide Protection - Cape Horn, State Road 14 2017

VX-140 System Layout

Debris Flow & Shallow Landslide Protection - Cape Horn, State Road 14 2017

Installing abrasion protection on VX-140

Debris Flow & Shallow Landslide Protection - Cape Horn, State Road 14 2017

VX-140 brake rings at winglet during installation, NATINA Stained

Debris Flow & Shallow Landslide Protection - Cape Horn, State Road 14 2017

VX-120 constructed with ROCCO® Ring Nets and DELTAX® G80-2 Wire Mesh, NATINA Stained

Debris Flow & Shallow Landslide Protection - Cape Horn, State Road 14 2017

VX-140 Debris Flow Barrier bottom, NATINA Stained

 

Systems

 

System length

15 m

 

Year of installation

2017

Initial situation

The Columbia River separates the States of Oregon and Washington cutting across the Cascade Mountains creating a fantastically scenic Gorge that was named a National Scenic Area in 1986.  Cape Horn in the Gorge is a massive basalt cliff outcrop composed of the Grand Ronde Basalt Flows (http://columbiariverimages.com, 2017). State Route (SR) 14 is the major east-west roadway on the north side of the Gorge in the state of WA.  There are numerous watersheds draining from the gorge slopes which roads such as the SR-14 cross, one such drainage near Cape Horn has produced historic debris flows.  During the 1990s a drainage was outfitted with a now obsolete debris flow net structure in the 1990s.

Description

During the spring of 2017, a storm-induced debris flow overwhelmed the original, basic debris flow structure. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) contacted Geobrugg North America, LLC for technical assistance to layout and design a modern flexible debris flow mitigation structure. Their analysis resulted in specifying a UX-120-H4 system from Geobrugg North America, LLC. Hi-Tech Rockfall Construction, Inc. was contracted to perform the installation work.  Being the Gorge a National Scenic Area aesthetics are a major concern and required colorization of the flexible debris flow structure.  Powder coating colorization was chosen by WSDOT to camouflage the system, but the exact color they specified was unavailable.  Geobrugg suggested another colorization system from the company NATINA: NATINA Steel stain with a rustic brown, earth tone finish.

Customer

Washington State Department of Transportation

Contractor

Hi-Tech Rockfall Construction, Inc.

Protected object

Road

Corrosion protection

GEOBRUGG SUPERCOATING

Engineering

Washington State Department of Transportation

Your local contact

Roger Moor
   

Roger Moor

Country Manager Ost- und Zentralschweiz, Liechtenstein

Natural Hazards
Hydraulic Engineering
Mining / Tunnels
Geobrugg AG,Aachstrasse 11,8590 Romanshorn / Switzerland Country Manager Ost- und Zentralschweiz, Liechtenstein

E-Mail

René Müller
   

René Müller

Country Manager Kantone AG BE BL BS FR GE JU NE SO VD VS

Natural Hazards
Hydraulic Engineering
Mining / Tunnels
Geobrugg AG,Industriestrasse 21,5200 Brugg / Switzerland Country Manager Kantone AG BE BL BS FR GE JU NE SO VD VS

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Alexander Bittendorfer
   

Alexander Bittendorfer

Project Manager Inspection Services

Natural Hazards
Geobrugg AG,Aachstrasse 11,8590 Romanshorn / Switzerland Project Manager Inspection Services

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Isacco Toffoletto
   

Isacco Toffoletto

Ticino Country Manager

Natural Hazards
Hydraulic Engineering
Mining / Tunnels
Geobrugg AG Ticino,Stabile Cometal, via Pizzante 7,6595 Riazzino / Switzerland Ticino Country Manager

E-Mail