DeNatale, Jay S.; Fiegel, Gregg L.; Iverson, Richard M.; Major, Jon J.; LaHusen, Richard G.; Duffy, John D.; Fisher, Gregory D. 1997. Response of flexible wire rope barriers to debris-flow loading. In: Chen, Cheng-lung, ed. Debris-flow hazards mitigation: mechanics, prediction, and assessment: Proceedings of first international conference; 1997 August 7-9; San Francisco, CA. New York, NY: American Society of Civil Engineers: 616-625.
In June 1996, an experimental study at the U.S. Geological Survey Debris-Flow Flume established the degree to which flexible wire rope harriers could containrapidly-moving, staged debris flows consisting of water-saturated, poorly-gradedgravelly sand. Six tests were conducted with four different barrier designs. Alldebris flows had volumes of about 10 cubic meters, masses of about 20 metric tons.and impact velocities of 5 to 9 meters per second. The study demonstrated that flexible wire rope barriers can effectively mitigate or even completely contain smalldebris flows.