Abstract
In 2009, the European Guideline for Flexible Rockfall Protection Kits European Technical Approval Guideline 027 (ETAG 027) became valid. The aim of the guideline was to approve and certify steel barriers available on the market according to a common standard. In 2018, ETAG 027 was replaced by a so-called European Assessment Document (EAD). This contribution summarizes results and experiences that were obtained through the type testing, approval and assessment procedures of 66 protection systems evaluated between 2009 and 2018. Apart from the common main task of the barriers to stop falling blocks successfully, the different test conditions and constructions of barriers result in different performance characteristics. Some of these characteristics follow certain trends, whereas others show a wide range without any trend. In such a case, this contribution helps to classify a single system compared to the others.
Highlights
Today, flexible rockfall protection systems are efficient and effective solutions for protection from this natural hazard
Looking at the evolution over time, it is apparent that most of the Technical Approval Body (TAB) started with ETAG 027-European Technical Approval (ETA) at about the same time: around the beginning of the second decade of this millennium
If all the other TABs do not cover new ETAs, their knowledge and expertise within this field diminishes over time
Summary
Flexible rockfall protection systems are efficient and effective solutions for protection from this natural hazard. This has not always been the case. Special testing series on flexible rockfall fence structures strengthened the general trust in such systems [1,2,3,4,5]. Nature delivers highly variable rockfall impacts regarding block mass, block shape, impact velocity, rotational velocity, and impact height This variability makes it difficult to set up a system that fulfills all requirements. For many years the effectiveness of rockfall protection systems relied on simple testing or on empirical design [6]
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