OEBB Increases Rockfall and Avalanche Protections
Austria: OEBB is installing new protections for railway infrastructure against rockfall and avalanches. It is also repairing existing facilities that became damaged last winter.
OEBB is building a structure 150m long and up to 5m high to protect railway infrastructure at the Lueg Pass. The new structure will overlap with existing protecting measures, thereby supporting and reinforcing them. OEBB is also repairing the protective facilities over a stretch of 500m that were damaged in the winter.
The structures will not only be able to provide protection from rockfall. They will also be able to withstand greater quantities of snow. This means greater protection from avalanches. The new nets can handle around two tons dropping vertically from a height of 100m.
Construction Site Access
The construction site is located around 250m above the railway line. In addition to working in hot summer conditions, OEBB employees have to hike for an hour to get to the building site, which is not accessible by vehicle. Helicopters will deliver the materials to the building site. OEBB says it will complete these works by the end of July.
Rockfall Protection on the Tauern Railway
OEBB will erect further rockfall protections in the Gastein Valley, near the former Loifarn Station and in Bad Gastein. OEBB regularly checks the condition of its protective installations, it says, to determine what replacement and repair works need to occur.