Securing the motorway in Lom with radar
The system closes the road before avalanches threaten road users. This has been the case in Vikedalen in Lom since 2014. The avalanche detection system with automatic warning and road closure saved lives in 2020.
Problem statement
The main road through Vikedalen in Lom is prone to landslides. Large landslides threaten life and property. In 2014, the road was the first in Norway to be secured with radar.
Solution
Cautus Geo installed radar monitoring on national road 51 in 2014. The system continuously monitors, detects avalanches and stops traffic with a light signal. In February 2020, the system saved lives. Traffic was stopped. Shortly afterwards, an avalanche swept the system out to sea. In autumn 2020, a new monitoring system with newly developed radar was in place.
The road is automatically reopened if large landslides stop before they reach the road surface.
Road safety with radar
The facility that was re-established in Lom in 2020 is newly developed. It was trialled for two years at Mannen in Nedre Romsdalen. Several hundred avalanches and rockfalls were documented during the test period.
Our ambition is to have the best system in the world for real-time avalanche forecasting. Last year in Romsdalen, the system detected 1,000 avalanches and rockfalls. 150 of these were large. The system is designed to allow small avalanches to pass without warning, while automatically closing the road in the event of large avalanches that threaten life and health. If the avalanche stops before the road, it will be reopened automatically by the same system,
Two light signals
Large landslides result in automatic closure of traffic from both sides. The system then assesses the avalanche when the snow masses have settled again. If it hasn't reached the road, it will automatically reopen. Data from the radar is then analysed by Cautus Web and the road can be reopened.
Cautus Web will also automatically notify the Norwegian Public Roads Administration of landslides in Vikedalen.
Customer
Norwegian Public Roads Administration
Year
2014 - DD
Location
Lom
Application area
Technology
Important for road safety.
Asbjørn Stensrud, Section Manager at the Norwegian Public Roads Administration
Contact person
Switchboard telephone +47 990 96 580 or e-mail [email protected]
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