An investigation into the potential use of solid snow barriers on the Snake Pass, Derbyshire

Abstract

The northern areas of the Peak District National Park, notably in Derbyshire, are prone to high snow falls and associated snow drifting problems. To mitigate the effect of snow drifting on highways a system of temporary wooden snow fences has often been employed. A permanent variation on this approach became possible during the design of a major road improvement on the Snake Pass, Derbyshire. At the time of the scheme construction in 1986 no research had been conducted on the effectiveness of solid (rock bunds) barriers. Further to this, the most effective height and shape of the barrier for snow collection were unknown as was the critical distance from the highway boundary to prevent snow drifts from encroaching on the highway. This Paper describes the results of wind tunnel experiments which were conducted at Nottingham University to provide guidance and recommendations on the shape, lengths and efficiency of various solid (rock) barriers. It was found that solid barriers are an effective method of containing wind-borne snowin drifts and that in this test they were two to three times more efficient (in terms of volume of snow collected) than the standard (50%) porous wooden fence.