Rockfall occurrences are public, since the accidents on the “Gotthardautobahn” in summer 2006. There are several ways to protect from rockfall.

• Avoiding of local failure, i.e. slides or rockfall with covers and nails/ anchorage on the slopes as "active or passive" measure
• Installing of protective systems like Earth Walls next  to or avalanche protector tunneling over the objective of protection
• Positioning flexible net fences

Our institution is focused, in addition to the first-mentioned construction, especially on constructions that combine network systems, steel wires and cables. These include flexible safety rockfall protection kits as well as covers in various traditional and innovative types.

Rockfall protection systems are visual discreet, very flexible and economical variant of protections. The development and construction of flexible protection works can be supported by computer.  This numerical simulation does not replace the following test in large-scale experiment since calculation method are not precise due to negelection and generalization of several effects. The current procedures can be effected in two different directive, either by the Swiss "Federal guideline for the approval of rockfall protection kits" (BUWAL 2001) or by the European directive "ETAG 27 - Rock Fall Protection Kits" (EOTA 2008). The chair is involved as a partner of international manufacturers in the development and testing of rockfall protection systems and their components.

Standardization for constructive design as well as tests for rock covers and there components don’t exist on the national and European level. Actually, the chair is undertaking an expert witness function. It advises and attends test series several producers, accomplishes some comparison series and evaluates the results.

Equipment and components with special requirement, modern measurement instrumentations as well as concrete block according to the ETAO directive, made from fiber-reinforced concrete with a precisely adjusted density are used for the experimental purposes. This equipment has been manufactured by and is available from our premises.

Some components of the rockfall protection systems are also used in other areas of soil and rock mechanics, road construction and solid construction. For example:

• for structural control of sinkholes
• for soil reinforcement
• for layers reinforcement in road construction

These considerations are other components of the research and development task in the framework of this complex activity.