PROTECTIVE STRUCTURE AND METHOD FOR DISSIPATION OF TENSION LOAD INTRODUCED INTO A SUPPORTING CABLE OF A SUPPORTING CABLE ARRANGEMENT OF THE PROTECTIVE STRUCTURE

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a protective structure according to the preamble of claim 1 and to a method for dissipating a tensile load introduced into a supporting cable of a supporting cable arrangement of the protective structure according to claim 10.

[0002] A protective structure of this type is known, for example, from EP-A 484 563 and serves to provide protection against rockfall, falling timber, avalanches, mudslides or similar.

[0003] The disadvantage of this type of protective structure is that the supporting cables of a protective structure's supporting cable arrangement must be secured via ground / rock anchors or piles, which requires drilling into the subsoil. Particularly in loose soil, drilling such holes is extremely complex and requires special tools, which is especially difficult when the protective structure has to be installed in difficult-to-access terrain.

[0004] US 2008 / 006757 A1 discloses a protective structure comprising a plurality of spaced-apart supports and a fall arrest device guided along the supports via a support cable arrangement. Furthermore, the known protective structure includes retaining cables for the supports. These retaining cables are attached at one end to the tips of the supports and are attached at their opposite free end to support blocks placed on the ground.

[0005] From KR 100 659 372 B1 a fence for damping impacts is known, which is provided with a wire rope damping device.

[0006] From US 8 458 986 B2 a reinforcement system for a tower stabilized by means of an anchor and tension cables is known, wherein the tension cables are connected to a buried block via an anchor head and a rod.

[0007] In contrast, it is the object of the present invention to provide a protective structure according to the preamble of claim 1, which makes it possible to avoid drilling for ground / rock anchors or piles.

[0008] This problem is solved by the features of claim 1.

[0009] According to the invention, a protective structure is provided which is provided with a plurality of supports arranged at a distance from one another, wherein at least two supports are provided.

[0010] The protective structure also includes a fall arrester, which is guided along the supports via at least one suspension cable arrangement. The fall arrester is typically designed as a safety net.

[0011] The suspension cable arrangement comprises a suspension cable that is guided on the supports via guide elements, such as shackles. At least one such suspension cable arrangement is provided, but it is also possible to provide a plurality of such suspension cable arrangements, such as an upper and a lower suspension cable arrangement and one or more intermediate cable arrangements between the upper and lower suspension cable arrangements.

[0012] The supporting cable(s) each have free ends that are secured via a ground anchor. According to the invention, this ground anchor is designed as a deadman's anchor, which offers the advantage that it is not necessary to drill holes in the ground material to secure fastening elements such as ground / rock anchors or piles.

[0013] The term "dead man anchor" refers to a fastening technique for ropes that are under tension and must withstand large tensile loads, such as the ropes of a protective structure when, for example, a boulder hits the arresting device of the protective structure.

[0014] To create a deadman's anchor, a narrow pit, for example two to three meters long, is first dug in the ground. The depth of the pit can be adjusted to the tensile load to be absorbed and is referred to as a deadman's pit. In the center of this pit, a narrow cable shaft is dug at a right angle, with the floor of this shaft rising steadily from the bottom of the previously dug deadman's pit at an angle to the cable to be guyed up to the ground surface. After this pit has been dug, the deadman's anchor, which is usually beam-shaped, is inserted into the deadman's pit and the cable attached to it is inserted into the cable shaft. From there, it is guided to the surface, from where the cable is guided over the supports of the protective structure. The deadman's pit and the cable shaft are first refilled with material.

[0015] Subclaims 2 to 9 contain advantageous developments of the protective structure according to the invention.

[0016] For example, it is possible to provide a plurality of interconnected deadman anchors to create a deadman anchorage that can withstand even very high tensile loads.

[0017] The deadman's anchors can be spade-shaped, cube-shaped, beam-shaped with a transverse extension, conical, or plow-shaped. In cube-shaped designs, the cube walls can be either grid-shaped or fully covered, or partially grid-shaped and partially covered. Furthermore, it is possible to fill such cube-shaped deadman's anchors with additional suitable material.

[0018] Furthermore, in another particularly preferred embodiment, the deadman's anchor is placed in a buried pipe that can be filled with material. The filling material can be adapted to the specific application. The assembly consisting of the pipe and the deadman's anchor located within it is then buried, which offers the advantage that defined conditions for the deadman's anchor's operation are maintained over predeterminable periods of time.

[0019] In a further preferred embodiment, it is possible to bury the foot arrangements of the supports into the ground material of an assembly site up to a certain height of the lower support section adjoining the foot arrangements, wherein preferably these regions of the support can be provided with an erosion protection device surrounding the foot arrangements and the adjoining buried support region.

[0020] Such erosion control devices can be a special erosion-resistant material surrounding the base assemblies and the lower support area. Alternatively, arrangements of nets or gabion structures can be provided. A gabion is a wire basket filled with material, especially stones, which is also referred to as a stone basket, bulk basket, masonry basket, or wire ballast box.

[0021] The invention further relates to a method for dissipating a tensile load introduced into a supporting cable of a supporting cable arrangement of a protective structure. The method according to the invention comprises the following method steps: connecting a free end of the supporting cable to a deadman's anchor and subsequently burying the deadman's anchor and the cable section adjoining the free end into the soil material of the installation area of ​​the protective structure.

[0022] If a tensile load is applied to the support cable, for example when a boulder hits the safety net, the method according to the invention has the advantage that the support cable pulls the deadman's anchor through the surrounding soil material, similar to a plough (without the deadman's anchor being pulled out of the soil material), whereby the applied tensile load can be absorbed, so that in this case the deadman's anchorage simultaneously acts as a tensile load dissipation device.

[0023] Further details, advantages, and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the drawings. It shows: Fig. 1 a highly schematically simplified perspective top view of a first embodiment of a protective device according to the invention, Fig. 2 one of the Fig. 1 corresponding representation of a side view of the protective device, Fig. 3 an enlarged representation of the right area of ​​the protective device according to the Fig. 1 and 2 , and Fig. 4 to 7 schematically greatly simplified side views of different embodiments of dead man's anchors of a dead man's anchorage according to the invention.

[0024] From a summary of the Fig. 1 bis 3 The structure of an embodiment of a protective structure 1 according to the invention is shown. In the example, this protective structure 1 has a plurality of supports 2, 3 and 4 arranged at a distance from one another, whereby the selected number of three supports is purely exemplary. The protective structure 1 further has a collecting device, which is symbolized by a hatched section 5 between two support cable arrangements 6 and 7. This collecting device 5 can, for example, be a safety net which has a Fig. 1 can completely span the area marked by the double arrow B, which can be, for example, a riverbed, to which two inclined areas C and D are laterally connected, which merge into end areas E and F. This is also merely a possible example of the location of use of the protective structure 1 according to the invention, which can also be used, for example, on mountain slopes as protection against rockfall and the like.

[0025] In the example shown, the fall arrester 5 is guided via two support cable arrangements 6 and 7 on the beams 2, 3 and 4. In the simplest case, it is possible that only one support cable arrangement is provided, but it is also possible that between the Fig. 1 bis 3 For example, one or more central cable arrangements are provided in the support cable arrangements 6 and 7 shown.

[0026] Furthermore, the Fig. 1 and 2The protective structure 1 shown has two ground anchors 8 and 9 in the areas F and E, respectively. These ground anchors 8 and 9 are designed according to the invention as dead man's anchors, each having a dead man's anchor 12 and 13, respectively.

[0027] In the illustrated embodiment, the cable arrangement 6 is connected via its free ends 10 and 11 to a deadman's anchor 12 or 13 of the deadman's anchors 8 and 9. It would be conceivable to also directly connect the free ends of the second support cable arrangement 7 to the deadman's anchor; however, in the illustrated embodiment, the free ends of the support cable arrangement 7 are connected to the corresponding adjacent areas of the support cable arrangement 6.

[0028] Furthermore, the Fig. 1 bis 3 As can be seen, the supports 2, 3, and 4 each have a buried foot assembly 14, 15, and 16, respectively. In the example, each of these foot assemblies 14, 15, and 16 is provided with an erosion protection device 17, 18, and 19, respectively.

[0029] Representative of all foot arrangements is Fig. 3 The foot arrangement 14 of the support 2 is shown in an enlarged view. This clearly shows that the foot arrangement 14 has a triangular base 2A, to which, starting from a corner point, a support region 2B extends. This support region, together with the base 2A, is buried in the ground material of the mounting location 24 at which the support 2 is erected. Accordingly, only the support region 2C of the support 2 is the area that protrudes beyond the material of the mounting location 24.

[0030] Out of Fig. 3 It is further clear that the support cable arrangement 6 comprises a support cable 22 having an end section 23 which terminates in the free end 10 and is also buried in the ground material of the assembly site 24. Furthermore, the support cable arrangement 6 has a support cable guide 25 which is Fig. 3 is marked, in a very simplified manner, as the upper area of ​​the support section 2C. The support cable guide 25 can, for example, be a shackle. Corresponding support cable guides are provided on the supports 3 and 4.

[0031] The free end 10 is connected via a fastening element 26 which is Fig. 3 symbolized in a very simplified manner as a double circle, is attached to the deadman's anchor 12 of the deadman's anchor 8.

[0032] Fig. 3 Finally, it is clear that the base assembly 14 is provided with an erosion protection device 17 that surrounds the base assembly and a part of the support section 2B. As explained above, the erosion protection device 17 can be suitable material that is piled up around the base assembly, or net arrangements or gabion arrangements can be used. This is in Fig. 3 also symbolized in a highly simplified manner by a plurality of cuboids arranged around the foot arrangement 14.

[0033] From the Fig. 4 bis 5 There are different designs of the dead man's anchor 12 or 13. In Fig. 4 , as in the Fig. 1 bis 3 , the dead man's anchor 12 or 13 has a cube shape, which can either be a compact component or is designed in the manner of a container that can be filled with suitable material before the dead man's anchor 12 or 13 is buried in the ground.

[0034] In the embodiment according to Fig. 5 The dead man's anchor 12 or 13 is a conical component.

[0035] Fig. 6 illustrates an embodiment in which the dead man's anchor 12 or 13 is designed like a plough and, in the example, comprises two plough discs 12A or 13A and 12B or 13B arranged at an angle to one another, which converge in a sharp edge 12C or 13C which points in a pulling direction Z if the dead man's anchor 12 or 13 is pulled through the surrounding material when a tensile load is applied to the cable arrangement 6, as defined in the method according to the invention.

[0036] According to the invention, such a pulling through is also possible with the other embodiments according to Fig. 4 or 5 possible.

[0037] Fig. 7 illustrates an arrangement of the conical deadman's anchor 12 or 13 in a pipe 20, which, after the deadman's anchor 12 or 13 has been inserted, can be filled with a suitable material adapted to the respective application and is then buried at the installation location 24, as is usual with deadman's anchors. As explained at the beginning, this results in the particular advantage that by inserting the deadman's anchor 12 or 13 into the pipe 20 and filling it with a suitable material, defined conditions for the actuation of the deadman's anchor can be set for predeterminable periods of time. In addition to conical deadman's anchors, any other designs of deadman's anchors are also suitable for installation in the pipe 20.

[0038] Furthermore, it is possible to insert a dead man's anchor into a hole in a rock and, after the dead man's anchor has been arranged in the hole in the rock, to fill it with a suitable material, which has the advantage that an already existing cavity in a rock can be used instead of the pipe 20, as described above.

[0039] Among the further advantages, it should be noted that the protective structure 1 according to the invention does not require any equipment or tools to be brought to the installation site. Rather, all assembly steps can be performed using equipment, machines, and vehicles already present at the installation site of the protective structure 1, which significantly simplifies and reduces the cost of installation.

[0040] In addition to the above written description of the invention, for its supplementary disclosure, reference is hereby explicitly made to the graphic representation of the invention in the Fig. 1 bis 7reference is made. List of reference symbols

[0041] 1Protective structure 2, 3, 4Support 2ABase 2B, 2CSupport areas 5Arresting device 6, 7Support cable arrangement 8, 9Ground anchorage 10, 11Free ends 12, 13Dead man's anchor 14, 15, 16Foot arrangements 17, 18, 19Erosion protection devices 20Pipe 21Gabion structure 22Support cable 23Cable area 24Assembly area 25Cable guide 26Fastening element ZPull direction

Claims

1. Protective structure (1) - having a plurality of supports (2, 3, 4) arranged spaced apart from and adjacent to each other; - having a trapping device (5) which is guided on the supports (2, 3, 4) via at least one support cable arrangement (6, 7); and - having a soil anchorage (8, 9) for free ends (10, 11) of the at least one support cable arrangement (6, 7), characterized in that - the soil anchorage (8, 9) is configured as a deadman anchorage.

2. The protective structure according to claim 1, characterized in that the deadman anchorage (8, 9) has a deadman anchor (12, 13).

3. The protective structure according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the deadman anchorage (8, 9) comprises a plurality of interconnected deadman anchors (12, 13).

4. The protective structure according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the deadman anchor(s) (12, 13) is (are) cube-shaped, cone-shaped or plough-shaped.

5. The protective structure according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the deadman anchor (12, 13) can be pulled by the support cable arrangement (6, 7) through the soil material surrounding it.

6. The protective structure according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the deadman anchor (12, 13) can be placed in a buriable and fillable tube (20).

7. The protective structure according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the support cable arrangement (2, 3, 4) has buriable base arrangements (14, 15, 16), each of which is surrounded by an erosion protection apparatus (17, 18, 19).

8. The protective structure according to claim 7, characterized in that the erosion protection apparatus (17, 18, 19) is configured as a net or net arrangement.

9. The protective structure according to claim 7, characterized in that the erosion protection apparatus (17, 18, 19) is configured as a gabion structure (21).

10. Method for dissipating a tensile load applied onto a support cable (22) of a support cable arrangement (6, 7) of a protective structure (1), comprising the following method steps: - connecting a free end (10, 11) of the support cable (22) to a deadman anchor (12, 13); - inserting the deadman anchor (12, 13) and the cable section (23) adjoining the free end (10, 11) into the soil material of an assembly area (24) of the protective structure (1), and - applying the tensile loadto the support cable (22) and pulling the deadman anchor (12, 13) through the soil material.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that the deadman anchor (12, 13) is not pulled out of the soil material when it is pulled therethrough.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that the behaviour of the deadman anchorage can be adjusted by the choice of the shape of the deadman anchor (12, 13).

13. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, characterized in that the behaviour of the deadman anchorage can be adjusted by the choice of the material surrounding it.