Scientist-E, Snow & Avalanche Study Establishment, SASE (DRDO), Himparisar, Sector 37-A, Chandigarh (UT), India. vinaysase73@gmail.com
Increased tourism, deployment of military personnel, machinery and execution of various project activities have increased the traffic volume significantly which have necessitated the construction of all-weather road projects between Kullu and Lahul spiti valley. With the above aspects in mind, a new road connecting Laddakh and Lahaul Spiti with rest of India has been constructed. The Rohtang Tunnel is a part of this highway and remains affected by seventeen major avalanche prone sites enroute. To protect the highway from devastating effects of avalanches, Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE) has suggested permanent avalanche defence measures by way of snow sheds, snow bridges and diversion walls to mitigate Avalanche hazards. The paper deals with design criteria for selection of overhang length of crossbeam and girder of snow bridges, and internal angle of support with slope.
