Preventing Landslides With Nets: Ideas You Need to Know

If you're charged with keeping the roads safe around a natural area or a rocky hillside, you may need to invest in nets to secure the rocks to the hillside. This is a complicated process, but there are some tips and ideas that can help. Take a look.

A History of Landslides Is an Issue

Once a landslide happens in an area, there is a far greater chance of another one occurring. In some cases, parts of the previous landslide will fail and lead to another one. In other cases, the landslide will creep back retrogressively so that the next one starts at a higher point on the slope. To safeguard against both of these risks, you should install nets after a landslide, and you should make sure to anchor the nets past the starting point of the original landslide.

Tension Cracks Can Be a Harbinger of Landslides

However, you shouldn't just use nets after landslides. You should also look for tension cracks. Generally, tension cracks are long linear cracks. This is especially prevalent in cases where you already have a concrete retaining wall supporting the land in the area. Ideally, you should monitor your area for signs like this and put in retaining nets as needed.

The Aftermath of Forest Fires Can Lead to Landslides

Additionally, forest fires can also lead to landslides, and you may want to include nets as part of your mitigation strategy. To explain, when the plants in a forest burn down, their roots also die. Those roots hold together the land, and in their absence, the rocks can start to slip and slide all over the place.

Nets Combined With Other Strategies Can Help

Rather than just installing industrial-strength nets in a certain area to prevent against rock slides, you should also integrate other methods. In particular, you may want to help the area with water drainage. If there's a significant storm and the water builds up on the top of a slope, it can bring the rocks down with it. To prevent this, drill holes in the slope to help assist drainage and prevent water build up.

You Need to Use Special Nets

Finally, when choosing nets to prevent rock slides, remember you have to invest in nets designed for this purpose, or you have to get nets that hold tons of rocks. Remember, the nets have to be strong enough to hold the weight of the rocks as well as the force behind them.

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