Verkís at Snow 2019 in Siglufjörður

An International Symposium (Snow 2019) on Mitigation Measures against Snow Avalanches and Other Rapid Gravity Mass Flows will be held in Siglufjörður, north Iceland, from April 3rd to April 5th.

The symposium seeks to bring together scientists, engineers, architects and representatives of local and central authorities to discuss the state of the art of mitigation measures against snow avalanches and other rapid gravity mass flows and the challenges that lie ahead in the management of those natural hazards.

Kristín Martha Hákonardóttir, Civil Engineer and Fluid Dynamics Ph.D. and Hafþór Örn Pétursson, Mechanical Engineer, will present lectures on behalf of Verkís.

Kristín Martha will present the lecture The design of slushflow barriers: Laboratory experiments. Few words about the lecture from Kristín Martha: We have conducted a series of laboratory experiments to study the interaction of slushflows with catching dams. The aim of the experiments is to identify an engineering design that effectively stops a slushflow upstream of a catching dam. We find that the flow’s energy needs to be partly dissipated upstream of the catching dam. A row of relatively low, steep braking mounds upstream of an impermeable, steep dam is extremely effective. A permeable or partly permeable steep rock dam or a rock berm is also effective to reduce overtopping.

Hafþór Örn and Kristín Martha will present the lecture Use of RAMMS Avalanche and OpenFOAM to simulate the interaction of avalanches and slush flows with dam. In their lecture they will present the results from a study were numerical fluid simulations were used in the design of defense structures.

Siglufjörður is at the northern tip of the Troll Peninsula (Tröllaskagi), surrounded by the N-Atlantic Ocean. The location is ideal for a symposium about avalanche mitigation measures. Siglufjörður and the surrounding rural area has a long history of avalanches and avalanche catastrophes and the area offers great opportunities for a symposium field excursion. An extensive programme for the construction of avalanche protection measurements for the town has been ongoing for more than two decades.

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