What are the nets one sees on rockfaces or hillsides abutting railway lines in some areas?

July 19, 2019, 12:05 PM
Share

In areas where rock falls or landslides are common, IR uses meshes or nets fixed to the rockfaces or the hillsides — these are ‘stitched’ to the hillside at frequent intervals. They act to trap and stop, or slow down falling or sliding rocks and boulders so that they either do not fall all the way down, or lose their kinetic energy and fall without infringing the tracks.

Generally the nets are made of polypropylene ropes of 10mm-16mm diameter with high thermal, abrasion, and ultraviolet resistance. The mesh size is from 100mm to 300mm depending on the area, and the typical size of the fractured or falling rocks. These are appropriate for retaining and slowing small to medium sized boulders and the mesh strength is about 6-8 tons / m2. In some areas steel nets made of high-strength galvanized steel wire ropes are used. These ropes have a breaking strength of 4 tons and provide a mesh strength of 13-14 tons / m2 to retain large boulders. These have a design life of over 20 years.

Source – IFRCA.org

Share

This entry was posted in 2 Railway Employee, STUDY NEW, Railway Employee