Rockfall Protection of the West Siberian Rw

CASE HISTORY Rev: 02, Sept 14, 2018 ROCKFALL PROTECTION OF THE WEST SIBERIAN RW NOVOKUZNETSK -TASHTAGOL SECTION, 456 - 457 KM ROCKFALL PROTECTION Production: snow barriers, box-type gabions, double-twist net

Facility description: The South Kuzbass branch of the West Siberian railway is a railroad connecting Novokuznetsk with the towns and villages in the south of Kemerovo Region. In 1914, due to the opening of ore and coal mines, Kopikuz joint-stock company decided to construct a railway to Telbes (now Mundybash). The construction of the railroads to Southern Kuzbass was started in 1929. By 1940, the railway reached Tashtagol.

The railway starts from Novokuznetsk. The first 50 km of the line pass along the Kondoma River, where many suburban settlements are located. From Malinovka to Mundybash, the railroad stretches in a narrow line along a valley between the mountains and the river. From Mundybash to Tashtagol, the Tashtagol District, Kemerovo Region railroad passes through a scarcely populated tourist area.

In geological terms, Tashtagol District is a hilly terrain with an average absolute elevation of 500 m. The highest point in the area is Ulug-Dag mountain with the absolute elevation of 706 m.

Customer: D IRECTORATE FOR COMPLEX RECONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS AND CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAY TRANSPORT

FACILITIES – BRANCH OF RZD OJSC

Designer:

URALZHELDORPROJECT YEKATERINBURG DE- Railroad between Malinovka and Mundybash SIGN AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE – BRANCH OF ROSZHELDORPROECT JSC Contractor: SPETSSTROYMONTAZH© COPYRIGHT LLC Consultant: GABIONS MACCAFERRI CIS Products used: SNOW BARRIERS CTR-OMMACCAFERRI DK-2.5, N-2.5 WIHT BASEMENT TYPE – 3 - 6176 LINEAR METERS; DOUBLE-TWIST NET – 65 723 M2; BOX-TYPE GABION NETS - 2х1х1 – 2127 PCS;

BOX-TYPE GABION NETS - 1,5х1х1 – 1417 PCS. ©Any 2018 copying materials of is prohibited.All rights arereserved Construction period: NOVEMBER 2016 - NOVEMBER 2017 Reinforcement of rock slopes with a double-twist net Problem: The rockfall drapery system is sufficiently strong due to a On the 456 – 457 km railway stretch of Novokuznetsk – double-twisted wire. DT mesh was anchored to the slope by Tashtagol, the earthwork of the section was constructed on anchors. the bed adjacent to the Kondoma River, in close proximity to the slope. On the left, the slope rises 150 m above the railway. The bottom part of the slope is up to 50° steep. The Rockfall enbankment. Installation of an rockfall retainer wall top part of the slope is up to 70°, and it forms a rockfall cliff. made with gabions became one more solution providing protection of the railway section against rockfalls from PK In winter, avalanches on the railway infrastructure are highly 4548+10,0 to PK-4562+80,0, with a length of 1490 linear probable in this railway section. They are generated by solid meters and height of 3 meters. This structure enables atmospheric precipitations on steep terrains. Rockfalls sustaining extreme bumps of large rocks rolling down at a represent the second dangerous slope gravitation process. high speed. When the rockfall enbankment was settled, the The sources of rockfalls are weathered bedrock outcrops. possibility to use it for avalanche protection was also considered. To protect the infrastructure facilities in the area against possible rockfalls and avalanches, RZD OJSC decided in 2016 to authorize the installation of rockfall and avalanche protection systems.

Solution To protect the railway against dangerous geological processes, the designers Uralzheldorproject Yekaterinburg design and research institute developed a complex of technical solutions.

Drapery system. To prevent rockfalls on the railway, the weathered bedrock areas of the slope were reinforced with a double-twist net. The rock cliffs were wrapped in the following areas:

 PK 4548+89 – PK 4549+60;  PK 4554+0,8 – PK 4556+89;  PK 4558+02 – PK 4558+70;

Rockfall enbankment

MACCAFERRI ©Any 2018 copying materials of is prohibited.All rights arereserved

Rockfall enbankment. Height - 3 m, length - 1 490 linear meters Snow supporting barriers. To prevent avalanches, the Maccaferri engineers provided a technical solution employing special flexible snow supporting barriers. The barriers were designed so that the continuous snow pressure on the supporting panels is sustained. The height of such structures is computed based on the maximum height of the snow cover in the snow avalanche source area: the units with a height of 2,5 m were used in this section. In the barrier installation section, the basement for loose soils was provided. For the load-bearing posts to be reliably fixed in such soil type, a concrete plinth had to be installed.

Installation the snow barriers

The mounts of the load-bearing structures were installed in the basement by using special articulation joints. It enables prompt responding to any load changes during the entire snowy period. All barriers were installed section by section during a snowless period. 6,176 linear meters of structures were installed in total. Since the avalanche protection structures are quite light- weighted (the weight of the terrestrial part is 60-70 kg), they were delivered to the facility and then installed without any special difficulties for the contractor.

Basement for loose soils

Ranges of supporting barriers on the slope

Layout of the avalanche and rockfall protection structures at the facility

Panoramic view of the facility MACCAFERRI GABIONS CIS 115088, Moscow, Sharikopodshipnikovskaya, 13, building 1 tel.: +7(495) 108-58-84 E-mail: [email protected] www.maccaferri.ru