Rockfall protection nets

Engineers are regularly challenged to develop proactive solutions for preventing and controlling rockfall and other types of debris flow.

This area of engineering requires both geotechnical and structural expertise in combination with applying unique design procedures and event modelling tools.

The solution

Terre Armée has developed a solution that addresses the need for owners and builders to install active, preventive safety measures that mitigate the potential for debris flow at the source, and limit the damaging effects as a consquence of such an event. We design solutions and furnish materials for installing flexible wire facing used in contact with either a natural or a prepared ground surface to actively stabilize rock or unstable earthen slope surfaces that exhibit weathering or the potential for mobility.

This protective wire mesh “drapery” is secured to the slope surface through structural pinning and anchoring to adequately contain loosened and susceptible rock formations and debris from mobilizing toward nearby infrastructure vulnerable to damage, and therefore limiting possible loss of life or property.

The material composition

While the high tensile wire mesh solutions provide owners and engineers with active measures to stabilize rock slopes from mobilizing debris at the source, Terre Armée’s passive protective barriers are built to react to intermittent or occuring rockfall or avalanche through controlling the damaging effects of flowing debris.

Our typical solutions applied under normal risk prone conditions consist primarily of a high tensile wire mesh having a small opening size which is made of narrow, single diameter wire manufactured with a protective coating. For controlling rockfall in extreme situations, for example disturbed and highly unstable slopes having the potential for unpredictably mobilized large size debris over variable surface formations, a more robust wire netting consisting of multi-strand high tensile wire rope-fashioned mesh is considered. These larger diameter wire mesh ropes are manufactured with a wider opening size while still providing adequate slope stabilization and containment, and permit greater spacing distances between the pinning nails and anchors.