PROTECTIVE STRUCTURE AND METHOD FOR DISSIPATING TENSILE LOADS APPLIED TO SUPPORT CABLES IN SUPPORT CABLE ARRANGEMENTS OF PROTECTIVE STRUCTURES - Patent application

Abstract

The present invention relates to a protective structure (1) having a plurality of supports (2, 3, 4) arranged at a distance from one another, a trapping device (5) guided on the supports (2, 3, 4) via at least one support cable arrangement (6, 7), and ground anchorages (8, 9) for the free ends (10, 11) of the at least one support cable arrangement (6, 7), the ground anchorages (8, 9) being designed as deadman anchorages.

Description

[Background technology]

[0001] The present invention relates to a protective structure according to the preamble of claim 1 and to a method for dissipating tensile loads applied to a support cable in a support cable arrangement of a protective structure according to claim 10.

[0002] Typical protective structures are known, for example from EP-A-484,563, and provide protection against rock falls, felling trees, avalanches, mudslides and the like.

[0003] A drawback of typical protective structures is that the support cables of the support cable system of the protective structure need to be fixed via ground / rock anchors or posts, which requires drilling into the subsoil. Inserting such boreholes can be very expensive, especially if loose soil material is involved, and requires specific tools, which are particularly costly when the protective structure has to be installed in difficult-to-access terrain. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In contrast, the object of the present invention is to provide a protective structure according to the preamble of claim 1 which allows for drilling holes for ground / rock anchors or posts.

[0005] This object is achieved by the features of claim 1.

[0006] According to the invention, a protective structure is created which comprises a plurality of supports arranged at a distance from one another, with at least two supports provided thereon.

[0007] The protective structure also comprises a trapping device, usually in the form of a trap net, guided on the support via at least one support cable arrangement.

[0008] The support cable arrangement comprises a support cable that is guided on the support via a guide element such as a shackle. At least one such support cable arrangement is provided, but it is also possible that a plurality of such support cable arrangements, such as an upper support cable arrangement and a lower support cable arrangement, and one or more central cable arrangements are provided between the upper and lower support cable arrangements.

[0009] The one or more support cables each have a free end that is fixed via a ground anchorage, which according to the invention is designed as a dead-man anchorage, resulting in the advantage that no holes need to be made in the ground material to fix fastening elements such as ground / rock anchors or posts.

[0010] The term "dead man anchorage" refers to a fastening technique for cables that are under tension and need to withstand large tensile loads, such as the cables of a protective structure when, for example, a boulder strikes the trapping equipment of the protective structure.

[0011] To create a deadman anchorage, a narrow pit, say 2-3 meters long, is first excavated in the soil, its depth adapted to the tensile load to be absorbed. This is called a deadman pit. A narrow cable shaft is excavated at a right angle in the center of this pit, the bottom of which is gradually raised at an angle so that the cable can be pulled from the bottom of the previously excavated deadman pit to the ground. After the pit is excavated, a deadman anchor, especially a beam-shaped deadman anchor, is inserted into the deadman pit, and the attached cable is inserted into the cable shaft, which is then guided from the cable shaft to the soil surface, where it is guided onto the support of the protective structure. The deadman pit and cable shaft are then refilled with material.

[0012] Dependent claims 2 to 9 are advantageous further embodiments of the protective structure according to the invention.

[0013] For example, multiple interconnected deadman anchors can be provided to create a deadman anchorage that can withstand very large tensile loads.

[0014] For this purpose, deadman anchors can be spade-shaped, cube-shaped, beam-shaped with transverse extensions, cone-shaped, or plow-shaped. In cube-shaped configurations, the cube walls can be either lattice or full, or partially lattice and partially full. Furthermore, such cube-shaped deadman anchors can be filled with additional suitable materials.

[0015] In yet another particularly preferred embodiment, the deadman anchor is disposed in an implantable tube that can be filled with a material that can be adapted to the specific application. The device, consisting of the tube and the deadman anchor disposed therein, is then implanted, providing the advantage that the defined conditions for the deadman anchor's operating mode are guaranteed for a predetermined period of time.

[0016] In another preferred embodiment, the base device of the support can be embedded in the soil material at the assembly site up to a specific height of the lower support adjacent to the base device, whereby these areas of the support can preferably be provided with erosion protection equipment surrounding the base device and the adjacent embedded support areas.

[0017] Such erosion protection devices may be specific erosion-resistant materials surrounding the base device and the lower support area. Alternatively, net or gabion structures may be provided. Gabions are understood to be wire baskets filled with material, especially stone, and are also called stone baskets, bulk baskets, masonry stone baskets or wire gravel boxes.

[0018] The invention further relates to a method for dissipating a tensile load applied to a support cable of a support cable arrangement of a protective structure. The method according to the invention comprises the following process steps:

[0019] Connecting the free end of the support cable to a deadman anchor and then burying the deadman anchor and the portion of the cable adjacent the free end in earth material in the attachment area of ​​the protective structure.

[0020] For example, if a tensile load is applied to the support cable when a boulder hits the trap net, the advantage of this method is that the support cable will pull the deadman anchor through the surrounding soil material in the same way as a plow (without pulling the deadman anchor out of the soil material), thereby absorbing the applied tensile load, and as a result the deadman anchor will simultaneously function as a tensile load dissipation device.

[0021] Further details, advantages and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments with reference to the drawings.

[0022] FIG. 1 is a highly schematic and simplified perspective top view of a first embodiment of a protective device according to the invention.

[0023] FIG. 2 is a side view of the protective device corresponding to FIG.

[0024] FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the right area of ​​the protective device according to FIGS.

[0025] 4 to 7 are schematic, highly simplified side views of embodiments of deadman anchors of deadman anchorages according to the present invention.

[0026] The purpose of Figures 1-3 is to illustrate the construction of one embodiment of a protective structure 1 according to the present invention. In this example, this protective structure 1 has a plurality of supports 2, 3, and 4 arranged at a distance from one another, the selected number of three supports being purely exemplary. The protective structure 1 further comprises a trapping device, represented by a hatched section 5 between two support cable devices 6 and 7. This trapping device 5 can be, for example, a trap net that can completely span the area indicated by the double arrow B in Figure 1, which can be, for example, a riverbed laterally bounded by two sloped areas C and D that merge into end areas E and F. Again, this is merely an arbitrary example of a location for use of the protective structure 1 according to the present invention; it may be used, for example, on mountain slopes to protect against falling rocks, etc.

[0027] In the example shown, the trap device 5 is guided by two support cable arrangements 6 and 7 on the supports 2, 3 and 4. In the simplest case, only one support cable arrangement can be provided, but it is also possible to provide one or more central cable arrangements between the support cable arrangements 6 and 7 shown in Figures 1 to 3, for example.

[0028] Furthermore, the protective structure 1 shown in Figures 1 and 2 has two ground anchorages 8 and 9 in areas F and E, respectively. According to the present invention, these ground anchorages 8 and 9 are designed as deadman anchorages, each having a deadman anchor 12 and 13, respectively.

[0029] In the embodiment shown, cable device 6 is connected via its free ends 10 and 11 to deadman anchors 12 and 13 of deadman anchorages 8 and 9, respectively. Although it is conceivable to connect the free end of second support cable device 7 directly to the deadman anchors, in the embodiment shown the free end of support cable device 7 is connected to a corresponding adjacent region of support cable device 6.

[0030] As further shown in the figures, as shown in Figures 1 to 3, supports 2, 3 and 4 each have an embeddable base device 14, 15 and 16, respectively. In the exemplary case, each of these base devices 14, 15 and 16 is provided with an erosion protection device 17, 18 and 19, respectively.

[0031] As a representative example of all base devices, Figure 3 shows in enlarged form the base device 14 of the support body 2. As can be seen, the base device 14 has a triangular base 2A, from the apex of which extends a support area 2B, which, together with the base 2A, is embedded in the soil material of the mounting location 24 on which the support body 2 is erected. Therefore, the support area 2C of the support body 2 is the only area that extends beyond the material of the mounting location 24.

[0032] As is further apparent from Figure 3, the support cable arrangement 6 comprises a support cable 22 which terminates at a free end 10 and has an end portion 23 which is also embedded in the ground material at an attachment point 24. Furthermore, the support cable arrangement 6 comprises a support cable guide 25 which is shown in Figure 3 in a highly simplified manner as the upper region of the support 2C. The support cable guide 25 may, for example, be a shackle. The supports 3 and 4 are provided with suitable support cable guides.

[0033] The free end 10 is attached to the deadman anchor 12 of the deadman anchorage 8 via a fastening element 26, which is very simply referred to in FIG. 3 as a double circle.

[0034] Finally, Figure 3 shows that the base device 14 is provided with erosion protection equipment 17 which surrounds the base device and part of the support 2B. As explained earlier, the erosion protection equipment 17 may be any suitable material stacked around the base device, or may be a netting or gabion equipment, which is also represented in a highly simplified way in Figure 3 by a number of rectangular parallelepipeds arranged around the base device 14.

[0035] Different embodiments of the deadman anchor 12 or 13 result from Figures 4 to 5. In Figure 4, as in Figures 1 to 3, the deadman anchor 12 or 13 has a cubic shape, which can be a compact component or designed like a container that can be filled with a suitable material before the deadman anchor 12 or 13 is embedded in the subsoil.

[0036] In the embodiment according to FIG. 5, the deadman anchor 12 or 13 is a cone-shaped component.

[0037] Figure 6 shows an embodiment in which the deadman anchor 12 or 13 is of plow-shaped design and in an exemplary embodiment comprises two plow discs 12A or 13A and 12B or 13B, respectively, arranged at an angle to each other and converging into a sharp edge 12C or 13C, respectively, pointing in the pulling direction Z when the deadman anchor 12 or 13 defined in the manner according to the invention is pulled out of the surrounding material when a tensile load is applied to the cable device 6.

[0038] According to the invention, such extraction is also possible in the other embodiments according to FIG. 4 or FIG.

[0039] 7 shows the placement of a cone-shaped deadman anchor 12 or 13 herein within a tube 20, which after insertion can be filled with a suitable material adapted to the respective application and then embedded in the mounting location 24, as is typical for deadman anchorages. As explained earlier, this offers the particular advantage that by inserting the deadman anchor 12 or 13 into the pipe 20 and filling it with a suitable material, a defined condition for activating the deadman anchorage can be established for a predetermined period of time. In addition to cone-shaped deadman anchors, any other design of deadman anchor is also suitable for application to the pipe 20.

[0040] Furthermore, it is possible to insert the deadman anchor into a hole in the rock and then fill it with a suitable material after the deadman anchor is placed in the hole in the rock, thereby providing the advantage of being able to use an already existing rock cavity instead of the pipe 20 as previously described.

[0041] Among further advantages, it is particularly noted that the protective structure 1 according to the present invention does not require additional equipment and tools to be transported to the installation site for its installation. Rather, all installation 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 installation costs.

[0042] In addition to the foregoing written description of the invention, explicit reference is now made to the pictorial representations of the invention in FIGS. 1-7 for additional disclosure of the invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0043] 1 Protective structure 2, 3, 4 supports 2A base 2B, 2C support area 5. Trap Equipment 6, 7 Support cable device 8, 9 Ground anchorage 10, 11 Free end 12, 13 Dead Man Anchor 14, 15, 16 Base unit 17, 18, 19 Erosion protection equipment 20 Pipe 21 Gabion Structure 22 Support cable 23 Cable Area 24 Installation area 25 Cable guide 26 Fastening Elements Z tensile direction

Claims

1. A plurality of supports (2, 3, 4) are arranged adjacent to each other at a distance from each other, a trapping device (5) guided on said supports (2, 3, 4) via at least one support cable arrangement (6, 7), a ground anchorage (8, 9) for the free end (10, 11) of said at least one support cable device (6, 7); the ground anchorages (8, 9) are designed as deadman anchorages, the supports (2, 3, 4) each comprise an embeddable base device (14, 15, 16) surrounded by an erosion protection device (17, 18, 19); The protective structure (1) is characterized in that the base devices (14, 15, 16) of the supports (2, 3, 4) are embedded in the soil material of the assembly site up to a certain height of the lower support parts adjacent to the base devices (14, 15, 16).

2. The deadman anchorage (8, 9) comprises a deadman anchor (12, 13) or a plurality of deadman anchors (12, 13) connected to each other, 2. A protective structure according to claim 1, characterized in that the deadman anchors (12, 13) are formed in a cone shape or a plow shape, respectively.

3. 3. A protective structure according to claim 2, characterized in that the deadman anchors (12, 13) are pulled through the surrounding earth material by the supporting cable arrangements (6, 7).

4. 3. A protective structure according to claim 2, characterized in that the deadman anchors (12, 13) are positionable in an implantable and fillable tube (20).

5. 2. Protective structure according to claim 1, characterized in that the erosion protection devices (17, 18, 19) are designed as nets or netting devices.

6. 2. Protective structure according to claim 1, characterized in that the erosion protection devices (17, 18, 19) are designed as gabion structures (21).

7. 1. A method for dissipating a tensile load applied to a support cable (22) of a support cable arrangement (6, 7) of a protective structure (1), comprising: connecting the free ends (10, 11) of the support cables (22) to deadman anchors (12, 13); placing said deadman anchors (12, 13) and rope portions (23) adjacent said free ends (10, 11) in a bottom material of an attachment area (24) of said protective structure (1); - embedding embeddable base devices (14, 15, 16) mounted on supports (2, 3, 4) guiding the trapping devices via at least one support cable device (6, 7), each surrounded by an erosion protection device (17, 18, 19), into the soil material of the assembly site up to a specific height of a lower support adjacent to said base devices (14, 15, 16); applying the tension load to the support cable (22) to pull the deadman anchors (12, 13) through the soil material; A method comprising:

8. 8. A method according to claim 7, characterized in that the deadman anchors (12, 13) are not pulled out of the soil material when retracted.

9. 9. A method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the performance of the deadman anchor is adjustable by selecting the shape of the deadman anchor (12, 13).

10. 10. A method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that the performance of the deadman anchor can be adjusted by choosing the material surrounding the deadman anchor.

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