ÖBB railroad lines
“Salzach Valley requires many protective structures”
The "Krone" accompanied ÖBB employees during the inspection of rockfall nets on the railroad line. Modern technology should bring more safety.
Nikolaus Wahl and Hans Jörg Laimer use a machete to fight their way through the dense undergrowth along a rockfall fence in the Salzach Valley. "We had another rockfall there recently," reports Wahl. During the inspection, it quickly becomes clear that the fallen rocks need to be removed from the net. This has already been done twice this year using an excavator. "We will have to blast one rock first," says geologist Laimer. In the past, large chunks of rock have already been blasted from the section between Lend and Taxenbach to prevent them from breaking through the net later. At the point where the fence protects the provincial road and railroad line, loads of up to 500 kilojoules are absorbed. "That's roughly equivalent to the force of a VW Golf in free fall," says Wahl, plant engineer for natural hazards.
State-of-the-art technology is now being used in field tests at the site in Lend. Sensors on the supports measure whether there has been an impact and report this to the control center. Using a camera, ÖBB employees can get a live picture of what is happening. "The nets still have to be constantly monitored," says the technician. In general, every protective structure means a lot of work. The vegetation has to be constantly trimmed and the material removed from the basins. ÖBB goes to enormous lengths to ensure that the tracks are safe.
The situation in the Salzach Valley is special. Geologist Laimer explains: "It is one of the most sensitive areas in Austria because the Salzach fault runs here." Two types of rock from the Alps collide tectonically at this fault, which causes the problems. Another main reason for rockfalls is massive rainfall. These have become increasingly extreme in recent years.
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
Kommentare
Willkommen in unserer Community! Eingehende Beiträge werden geprüft und anschließend veröffentlicht. Bitte achten Sie auf Einhaltung unserer Netiquette und AGB. Für ausführliche Diskussionen steht Ihnen ebenso das krone.at-Forum zur Verfügung. Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.
User-Beiträge geben nicht notwendigerweise die Meinung des Betreibers/der Redaktion bzw. von Krone Multimedia (KMM) wieder. In diesem Sinne distanziert sich die Redaktion/der Betreiber von den Inhalten in diesem Diskussionsforum. KMM behält sich insbesondere vor, gegen geltendes Recht verstoßende, den guten Sitten oder der Netiquette widersprechende bzw. dem Ansehen von KMM zuwiderlaufende Beiträge zu löschen, diesbezüglichen Schadenersatz gegenüber dem betreffenden User geltend zu machen, die Nutzer-Daten zu Zwecken der Rechtsverfolgung zu verwenden und strafrechtlich relevante Beiträge zur Anzeige zu bringen (siehe auch AGB). Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.