Rockfall Monitoring - Lend, Austria

ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG, responsible for managing Austria’s rail infrastructure, faced the challenge of monitoring a rock slope in a remote location in Lend, near Salzburg, where the risk of rockfall posed a serious threat to critical rail infrastructure.

Regular manual inspections were impractical and costly due to the unpredictability of rockfall events and the lack of reliable power sources in the area. Traditional methods, such as visual inspections and the use of catchfences provided some protection but lacked the ability to provide real-time, actionable data.

ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG required a solution that could offer continuous, remote monitoring and early detection of potential hazards without compromising safety or incurring significant operational costs.

ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG partnered with maxGEO to install a Senceive InfraGuard™ wireless monitoring system. This solution uses Triaxial Tilt Meters on the rock protection net’s fence posts to measure both long-term trends as well as sudden rockfall events. Additional Tilt Meters were placed on posts further up the hillside to detect early signs of slope movement, providing even more advanced warning.

The InfraGuard™’s critical event detection system was chosen due to its ability to operate autonomously in remote locations without the need for a direct power source. The system was configured to report data at 30-minute intervals and provided immediate alerts when significant tilt events were detected, triggering cameras to take high-resolution images for visual confirmation.

The use of this Rockfall monitoring system has eliminated the need for manual inspections, and will deliver near real-time monitoring and alerts without impacting its 10-year battery life.

The installation has already proved to be highly effective and has already detected a rockfall event.

On the 13th of June 2024 at 6:00 AM, the rockfall monitoring system performed its routine photo and sampling tasks, capturing normal conditions. However, at 9:17 AM, the tilt meters detected movement and triggered an unscheduled sample via InfraGuard™, capturing the initial signs of a rockfall. By 10:12 AM, further tilt events were recorded as the rock breached the fence, triggering the system to capture additional data and high-resolution images of the breach.

The use of this rockfall monitoring system has eliminated the need for manual inspections, and will deliver near real-time monitoring and alerts for many years into the future.