Natural hazard

Large rockslides have led to some of the worst natural disasters we know of in Norway. In the northern parts of Western Norway, historical documentation shows that there have been 2-3 major disasters related to large rock slides and tsunamis every 100 years. The most well-known disasters are the Loen landslides in 1905 and 1936 and in Tafjord in 1934. Catastrophic tsunamis are associated with these landslides and a total of 175 people lost their lives.

In Norway, we have a number of unstable mountain areas that are currently categorised as high-risk objects and are monitored 24 hours a day. These can develop rock slides. A rock slide is the eruption of large volumes of rock, from 100,000 to several million m3. Historically, there are two to three major rock slide accidents every century in Norway.

Monitoring is carried out in real time using several types of instruments such as tension rods, lasers, GPS, total stations, tilt sensors, borehole sensors, seismic sensors, ground-based radar, satellite radar, web cameras and weather stations. Each mountain section is monitored by three or more independent measurement systems.

Monitoring natural hazards requires robust solutions to provide continuous information about the objects being monitored. All these projects are large and critical to society in terms of impact. To a large extent, Cautus Geo has built up all its monitoring solutions based on the requirements we have from monitoring large rock slides.

At least 27 per cent of Norwegian road sections and 31 per cent of the railway network are exposed to avalanches and rockfalls (InfraRisk-2013). On average over the last ten years, there have been 2,380 avalanches and 263 road closures per year on Norwegian roads (SVV). In addition, an increase in avalanche activity is expected due to climate change.

Technology can be used to reduce the risk to road users and provide better information to road and railway owners in demanding weather conditions and during avalanche events. Over many years, Cautus Geo has developed various solutions for information on snow conditions and avalanche forecasting. Today, Cautus Geo is a leading international player in avalanche forecasting and has a number of different systems for this.

Our warning systems are most often set up against barriers or traffic lights that alert road users. In addition, various stakeholders are notified via SMS, email and voice messages. All information is available in Cautus Web's Avalanche module.

Rockfalls are a challenge along the road network, in open-cast mines and in several development projects. We have drawn on our experience in warning of avalanches and other natural hazards to develop several solutions that can detect and warn of rock falls. Using our Cautus rockfall radar, each individual rock can be detected and geographically localised throughout the course of the avalanche.

Rockfall notification solutions can be linked to local notification solutions. In addition, information about incidents will be available in Cautus Web.

Our solutions for monitoring potentially unstable landscapes have a broad scope. They cover many different projects. We have a wide range of technology and solutions. We can imagine variations from smaller boulders, rock cuts, unstable ground conditions such as clay, fills and more.

The choice of technology and method will depend on the problem and an assessment of "cost, benefit, causal factors, what is happening and what is likely to happen". Monitoring of potentially unstable land areas can also be carried out using one or more of our mapping solutions. These solutions are often used in projects where more general information is required before continuous monitoring systems are installed.