CONTROL OF SNOW AVALANCHES

AS MORE PEOPLE TAKE TO THE MOUNTAINS TO SKI, AS MORE PIPELINES, HIGHWAYS, POWER LINES, AND ELECTRONIC RELAY SYSTEMS CROSS THE MOUNTAINS, AVALANCHES BECOME AN INCREASING HAZARD. THERE ARE TWO DIFFERENT WAYS TO CONTROL AVALANCHES. ONE IS THE MODIFICATION OF THE TERRAIN BY PERMANENT INSTALLATIONS OF VARIOUS KINDS: FENCES, FORESTS, WIND BAFFLES, ETC. THESE ARE REASONABLY PERMANENT AND SATISFACTORY BUT THEY ARE EXPENSIVE. THE SECOND METHOD IS MODIFICATION OF THE SNOW. SMALL SLIDES ARE TRIGGERED TO FALL BEFORE THEY GROW DANGEROUS. COMPACTION OF SNOW, BY MARCHING MEN OR SKIERS HELPS TO ANCHOR IT FIRMLY. LARGE SLABS, TOO BIG TO TRIGGER, ARE BROKEN UP BY SELECTIVE DYNAMITING. THE U. S. FOREST SERVICE IS EXPERIMENTING WITH CHEMICAL MODIFICATION OF THE ICE CRYSTALS. ALDEHYDES SEEMED VERY EFFECTIVE BUT ARE TOXIC TO USE. ETHYLENE GLYCOL ALSO SEEMS EFFECTIVE. RESULTS OF A FULL SCALE TEST ARE INCONCLUSIVE, BUT PROMISING ENOUGH TO ENCOURAGE FURTHER INVESTIGATION. /AUTHOR/

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00368733
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol 214,no 2,PP 92-101
• Authors:
  • Lachappelle, E R
• Publication Date: 1966-2

Media Info

• Serial:
  • Scientific American
  • Publisher: Scientific American Incorporated
  • ISSN: 0036-8733

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aldehydes; Avalanches; Compaction; Ethylene glycol; Explosives; Forestry; Snow and ice control; Snow fences; Terrain
• Uncontrolled Terms: Baffles; Change
• Old TRIS Terms: Snowslides; Trigger action
• Subject Areas: Highways; Maintenance and Preservation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00218229
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 16 1994 12:00AM