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A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
Design of Torrential Barriers
An Austrian Perspective
In the second half of the nineteenth century, a lot of torrential disasters occurred in the Austrian Alps causing huge damage. An analysis of these disasters revealed that poor land‐use management together with inadequate mitigation measures were the main reasons for these catastrophes. Hence, based on the French experience, a legislative initiative was started by Austrian foresters to approve a law that imposes a sustainable watershed management. This law on torrent control passed 1884 and enabled the implementation of forestal, agricultural, and structural measures within a torrential catchment. Additional financial regulations were established to facilitate mitigation measures even for poor rural communities. In the early years, structural measures were mainly built of stones and timber and had functions like to stabilize the channel bed, to deposit gravel upstream of settlements, to restrict sedimentation or inundation on the fan, or to redirect the flow to areas of low interest. In the first half of the twentieth century, cement mortar masonry walls and concrete gravity walls were constructed. New static concepts and the use of reinforced concrete were discussed at a Colloquium in Vienna (1973). These new concepts, further development in construction site technology, and the implementation of a functional arrangement led to different structural designs of check dams. In the beginning of the twenty‐first century, based on the design concept of EUROCODE, new technical guidelines for the design of torrential barriers (ON‐R Series 24800) were developed. These guidelines not only define torrential processes (flood, fluvial sediment transport, debris flood, and debris flow), functions of check dams, design situations, partial safety factors, but also condition assessment and intervention planning to cover the whole life circle of structural measures. The experience in the application of these guidelines is now under evaluation and will lead to a new national standard.
Design of Torrential Barriers
An Austrian Perspective
In the second half of the nineteenth century, a lot of torrential disasters occurred in the Austrian Alps causing huge damage. An analysis of these disasters revealed that poor land‐use management together with inadequate mitigation measures were the main reasons for these catastrophes. Hence, based on the French experience, a legislative initiative was started by Austrian foresters to approve a law that imposes a sustainable watershed management. This law on torrent control passed 1884 and enabled the implementation of forestal, agricultural, and structural measures within a torrential catchment. Additional financial regulations were established to facilitate mitigation measures even for poor rural communities. In the early years, structural measures were mainly built of stones and timber and had functions like to stabilize the channel bed, to deposit gravel upstream of settlements, to restrict sedimentation or inundation on the fan, or to redirect the flow to areas of low interest. In the first half of the twentieth century, cement mortar masonry walls and concrete gravity walls were constructed. New static concepts and the use of reinforced concrete were discussed at a Colloquium in Vienna (1973). These new concepts, further development in construction site technology, and the implementation of a functional arrangement led to different structural designs of check dams. In the beginning of the twenty‐first century, based on the design concept of EUROCODE, new technical guidelines for the design of torrential barriers (ON‐R Series 24800) were developed. These guidelines not only define torrential processes (flood, fluvial sediment transport, debris flood, and debris flow), functions of check dams, design situations, partial safety factors, but also condition assessment and intervention planning to cover the whole life circle of structural measures. The experience in the application of these guidelines is now under evaluation and will lead to a new national standard.
Design of Torrential Barriers
An Austrian Perspective
Li, Zhanbin (editor) / Li, Peng (editor) / Yu, Yang (editor) / Shi, Peng (editor) / Piton, Guillaume (editor) / Hübl, Johannes (author) / Suda, Jürgen (author) / Nagl, Georg (author)
2022-08-01
11 pages
Article/Chapter (Book)
Electronic Resource
English
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