avalanche protection

The company has experienced specialists in this area who have taken part in formulating regulations for risk assessment and international guidelines for the design of avalanche barriers, as well being involved in preliminary investigations in this area. They have also worked on the implementation of particular projects in cooperation with experts from Norway, France, Switzerland, and Austria, and experts from the Icelandic Met Office.

Most Verkís' projects have involved the design and construction of avalanche barriers to protect built-up areas, such as those in Flateyri, Ísafjörður, Neskaupstaður, Patreksfjörður and Bíldudalur, but there have also been projects to protect individual structures, such as the waste incineration plant Funa in Ísafjörður, a substation of the Kárahnjúkur power plant in Fljótsdalur, and the Fosshótel in Patreksfjörður. The company has most often been involved in the snow-technology design of barriers (so-called sketch plans), but it has also participated in other stages of construction, such as engineering design, which includes, among other things, bearing-capacity and geotechnical design, as well as construction supervision. Verkís has also assessed risks and had members on risk assessment committees in Iceland. It has also assessed risks outside urban areas, but the Iceland Met Office issues official risk assessments. 

The term avalanche covers snowslips, slush floods, mudslides, and rock slides and examples of avalanche protection are catching dams, avalanche cones, avalanche nets (i. upptökustoðvirki)
, snow-collection nets (i. snjósöfnunargrindur), wind deflectors, and rockslide fences. 

Services Sketch plans for protective measures Materials for presentations and maps, including projections of structures in the country Engineering design for protection Preparation of tender documents Construction supervision and risk assessment

Projects Avalanche protection at Fljótsdalur