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Technology to Cope with Debris Flows in Mountain Regions
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Pilot and Demonstration Activities
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Debris flows that accompany flashfloods in Asia’s monsoon countries pose ever increasing threats and damages to lives and livelihoods every year. This PDA will test a new low-cost technology that can stop debris flows dead on its tracks. |
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In mountain regions and on alluvial cones, flashfloods frequently result in debris flows, often triggering other disastrous events. In most tropical and semi-tropical regions, these water-related disasters are quite common natural phenomena. In recent years however, Asia has experienced an increase in the the impact and number of flashfloods and debris flows disasters, particularly in the Philippines, Thailand, and Nepal. These disasters were directly related to the destruction of forests and vegetation, settlement expansion in rural areas, multiple land use (e.g., as resorts and for slash-and-burn farming on slopes), and road constructions in mountain regions, in turn inducing larger environmental devastations.
Debris flows are also increasingly becoming major regional and global threats in high mountain regions due to permafrost melting triggered by global warming, and will soon impact on the safety of settlements along roads and on alluvial cones in valleys. Lives have already been lost and entire communities displaced.
Enormous efforts were made in attempts to eliminate the causes of debris flow disasters and reduce their devastating impact through prevention, protection, and preparedness. However, there is no stopping the kinetic energy carried by flashfloods and debris flows except massive engineering structures that can be very costly.
This PDA will test a new, easy-to-transfer, and feasible technology developed in Japan for coping with flashfloods and debris flows disasters in developing countries. Called the Debrisflow Braker, the simple and low cost technology will be tested on the mountain slopes along Kennon Road towards Baguio City in northern Philippines.
This PDA aims to demonstrate how a low-cost, easy-to-build and maintain technology can stop debris flows, particularly in flood-prone sites in the Asia-Pacific.
| Outcomes | Indicators |
The long term effectiveness and sustainability of the proposed technology is assured by employing simple and low-cost practices for monitoring and maintenance. Beneficiaries such as drivers and local community members who will benefit from this project can easily monitor the volume of deposition on Debrisflow Brakers and witness the level of improvement in the region’s safety. |
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