Proceedings of the Rocscience International Conference 2025 (RIC 2025)

<Previous Article In Volume
Next Article In Volume>

Addressing Rockfall Risks Post-Grassfire in the Rhigos Mountains: A Case Study on Innovative Attenuator System Design

Authors
Remo Dudler1, Manuel Eicher1, Mark Campbell2, Mark Lynn2, Jonathan Fullilove3, Duncan Eccclestone4, Helene Lanter1, *
1Geobrugg, 8590, Romanshorn, Switzerland
2Hydrock Consultants (Stantec), BS1 4RW, Bristol, UK
3Alun Griffiths, Monmouthshire, NP7 9PE, UK
4Geobrugg, Cheshire, CW12 1DY, UK
*Corresponding author. Email: helene.lanter@geobrugg.com
Corresponding Author
Helene Lanter
Available Online 7 December 2025.
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6463-900-1_41How to use a DOI?
Keywords
attenuator dimensioning; rockfall protection; high-tensile steel mesh
Abstract

It is a challenging project to address the aftermath of the grassfires in the Rhigos Mountain. Grassfires in the summer of 2022 damaged a significant area of the mountainside and are a recurrent issue. In June 2023, the affected area was equivalent to 300 football pitches, causing significant damage to the mountainside and infrastructure. The impacted road, the A4061, links Bridgend to Hirwaun in Wales. Post-fire, a heightened rockfall risk to the A470 necessitated immediate (emergency works) and more permanent solutions. Following the 2022 fire, temporary measures and subsequent emergency repairs in Autumn 2023 addressed immediate risks. Initial rockfall simulations using Rocfall determined the energy and bounce heights of the blocks. The final design included geotechnical solutions such as the attenuator system, rock fall barriers, and active/passive rock netting systems. The attenuator system was dimensioned via the novel software Attero. Three protection zones were established with scenarios based using rock masses between 700 kg and 900 kg. This contribution will highlight the novel dimensioning approach for attenuators in this case study for rockfall protection in Wales.

Copyright
© 2025 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Download article (PDF)

<Previous Article In Volume
Next Article In Volume>
Volume Title
Proceedings of the Rocscience International Conference 2025 (RIC 2025)
Series
Atlantis Highlights in Engineering
Publication Date
7 December 2025
ISBN
978-94-6463-900-1
ISSN
2589-4943
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6463-900-1_41How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2025 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - Remo Dudler
AU  - Manuel Eicher
AU  - Mark Campbell
AU  - Mark Lynn
AU  - Jonathan Fullilove
AU  - Duncan Eccclestone
AU  - Helene Lanter
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/07
TI  - Addressing Rockfall Risks Post-Grassfire in the Rhigos Mountains: A Case Study on Innovative Attenuator System Design
BT  - Proceedings of the Rocscience International Conference 2025 (RIC 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 421
EP  - 427
SN  - 2589-4943
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-900-1_41
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-900-1_41
ID  - Dudler2025
ER  -