ROCKFALL PROTECTION ALONG MAROS ELEVATED ROAD

The construction of a new road corridor in Maros (South Sulawesi) needed some extensive cutting of the existing rock slopes to gain room for the elevated road. During the period of 2017 – 2018, the local Public Works department issued a tender to design and install rockfall drapery mesh along the exposed cut slopes in order to mitigate the potential of rockfall hazards to vehicles and people at the base of the slopes, some of which exceed 30 m in height.

Our engineers, together with the local Public Works technical department based in Makassar, designed the rockfall drapery system. The client wanted a drapery system that could be installed in one single piece that would drape the entire slope. A drapery system with steel meshes was selected for obvious cost-effective advantages compared to other traditional solutions such as shotcrete. The contractor in charge of the execution selected the SteelGrid® HR 30 as netting material. The materials selected such as netting, anchors, grouting, ropes, and accessories were in compliance with the recently developed national specification for Public Works rockfall protection projects (Spesifikasi Khusus Interim SKh. 1.3.16: Jaring Kawat dan Jaring Kabel Sebagai Pengaman Lereng Batuan)