Rockfall Protection Measures for Indian Railways

Maccaferri’s rockfall protection measures like rockfall barriers, secured drapery were installed at a critical location of the stretch which was prone to frequent rockfall intendents.

Multiple locations between Boddavara and Similiguda station in Andhra Pradesh were prone to rockfall and slope instability, causing severe damage to rail infrastructure and endangering the lives of humans. The instability was observed due to weathered rock and the presence of soil-boulder mix strata. Therefore, appropriate rockfall protection measures were required at multiple critical locations.

Waltair Division of ECoR, decided to resolve this concern by using Maccaferri’s rockfall mitigation solutions. In consideration of steep slopes, space constraints and past rockfall events; dynamic rockfall barrier and secured drapery system were installed. EAD certified dynamic rockfall barriers of capacity upto1500 kJ were installed to intercept larger falling rocks. These cost-effective rockfall barriers not only intercept and stop falling rocks, but also minimize worker’s risk during installation, and reduce the installation time.

For surficial stability, High Energy Absorption (HEA) Panels were installed as the primary mesh and rockfall netting as the secondary mesh to form a secured drapery system. HEA Panels are the stiffest products within Maccaferri’s Mac.RO® systems mesh range which offers high strength at low strain.

Additionally, a gabion wall was constructed at the toe of the hill for retaining purposes. Maccaferri Gabion is a Double-Twisted “DT” wire mesh container of variable sizes uniformly partitioned into internal cells, interconnected with other similar units and filled with stone at the project site to form flexible, permeable, monolithic structures such as mass gravity walls, channel linings, revetments, and weirs for geotechnical, hydraulic and erosion control projects.

The combination of these solutions provides adequate protection against rockfall events, ensuring the safety of human lives and infrastructure.

Please contact us at [email protected] for rockfall mitigation and slope stability solutions for Railways.