Reliability analysis of rockfall net fences capacity

Rockfall protective structures are widely used in hazardous environment to protect inhabited settlements and roads. These infrastructures are provided in kits, i.e., built in parts and assembled onsite and their performance is assessed through EAD 340059-00-0106. The choice of the most appropriate product must follow reliability considerations. Since rockfall is generally modelled as a probabilistic phenomenon, a deterministic analysis on rockfall net fence capacity is inadequate. We propose a reliability based approach for assessing the safety of an installation, based on several variables associated to rockfall phenomenon and to the uncertainties related to the installation of the protection structure.