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Rockfall Protection - Kaikoura Tunnel 16 2019

Looking north - 4 meters high GBE-1000A-R rockfall barrier

Rockfall Protection - Kaikoura Tunnel 16 2019

Looking north east - 4 meters high GBE-1000A-R rockfall barrier under construction

Rockfall Protection - Kaikoura Tunnel 16 2019

Looking north from behind barrier - 4 meters high GBE-1000A-R rockfall barrier. Note: no upslope anchors, road access maintained

Rockfall Protection - Kaikoura Tunnel 16 2019

Looking upslope - 4 meters high GBE-1000A-R rockfall barrier. Note: both rock fall and debris source

Rockfall Protection - Kaikoura Tunnel 16 2019

Looking south - 4 meters high GBE-1000A-R rockfall barrier

Rockfall Protection - Kaikoura Tunnel 16 2019

SH1 and the Coastal Pacific Rail are important lifelines and transport routes going north from Christchurch.

 

System length

116 m

 

Year of installation

2019

Initial situation

The Kaikoura M7.8 earthquake caused widespread damage to the road and rail corridor for approximately 20 km North and South of the Kaikoura township. Over forty major slips inundated the road and rail with more than 750'000 m³ of material from source zones up to 500 meters above sea level.  The highly fractured Grey Wacke means frequent future rockfalls and debris loads. The high rockfall frequency with some debris loading created the requirement for a Geohazard Solution that could arrest the rockfall but be strong enough to withstand the pressure loading from debris accumulation. The barrier was located on the old road, and access behind the barrier had to be maintained.

Description

A 116 meters long, 4 meters high GBE-1000A-R was the selected system. The fixed post system has no upslope anchor ropes enabling easy access behind for clearance and maintenance. The net was upgraded to a SPIDER® S4-130 to withstand the pressure loading and increase the durability for frequent rockfall impacts. TECCO® G65/3 was selected as the secondary mesh to avoid puncturing failures from smaller high-velocity impacts.

Due to the highly fractured rock mass from the cut and cover tunnel construction, self-drilling anchors were required. Geobrugg Type III flexheads transfer the load to the bar anchors. The alignment had two downslope anchors due to the curved alignment and two support rope separations to allow maintenance on individual sections. SUPERCOATING and ULTRACOATING were used due to the proximity to the sea.

Customer

NCTIR and NZTA

Contractor

Rock Control

Protected object

Road

Corrosion protection

GEOBRUGG SUPERCOATING, GEOBRUGG ULTRACOATING

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

E-Mail

Alexander Bittendorfer
   

Alexander Bittendorfer

Project Manager Inspection Services

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

E-Mail

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