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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.

Country/Region

United States

Customer

Washington State Department of Transportation

Engineering

Washington State Department of Transportation

Contractor

Hi-Tech Rockfall Construction, Inc.

Protected object

Road

Corrosion protection

GEOBRUGG SUPERCOATING

Your local contact

Kevin Coyle
 

Kevin Coyle

Natural Hazards
Hydraulic Engineering
Geobrugg North America, LLC,3 Beaudet Terr,CT 06237 Columbia / United States

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Saleh Feidi
 

Saleh Feidi

Regional Manager California

Natural Hazards
Impact Protection
Geobrugg North America, LLC,8921 Emperor Ave.,91775 San Gabriel, California / United States Regional Manager California

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Bryant Jackson
 

Bryant Jackson

Regional Sales Manager Northeast

Natural Hazards
Impact Protection
Geobrugg North America, LLC,22 Centro Algodones Regional Sales Manager Northeast

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John Kalejta
 

John Kalejta

Regional Manager Rocky Mountains / Central USA

Natural Hazards
Impact Protection
Geobrugg North America, LLC,KS 67226 Wichita / United States Regional Manager Rocky Mountains / Central USA

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Robert Long
 

Robert Long

Regional Sales Manager Southeast

Natural Hazards
Impact Protection
Geobrugg North America, LLC,24905 Winterberry LN,60585 Plainfield / United States Regional Sales Manager Southeast

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Pierce Runnels, Civil Engineer
   

Pierce Runnels

Sales Director North America

Natural Hazards
Geobrugg North America, LLC,22 Centro Algodones , Civil Engineer Sales Director North America

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Tim Shevlin
 

Tim Shevlin

Regional Sales Manager Pacific Northwest and Hawaii

Natural Hazards
Impact Protection
Geobrugg North America, LLC,OR 97302 Salem / United States Regional Sales Manager Pacific Northwest and Hawaii

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