Vol.25, No.3, 2025, pp. 373–379
https://doi.org/10.69644/ivk-2025-03-0373

The paper describes a field study concerning the interaction of snow with different types of net fences to understand their durability in various snowy environments. The observation site is selected at Oshirokawa, Uonuma City, Niigata Prefecture which is a heavy snowfall area where maximum snow depth exceeds 3 m annually. The height of the net fence is 2.0 m with strain gauges installed on the upper rail of the frame to estimate the maximal deflection during the observation period which ran from December 2022 to March 2023. It was found that in comparison to the circular wire net, the flat wire net is less affected from the settlement force of the snow cover due to its larger cross-link surface area, making it more rigid. Furthermore, the settlement force induced by the snow cover on the net is estimated from strain data obtained from the top frame. The evolution of the settlement force is also calculated as a function of measured snow depth. The settlement force acts on the netting and occurs initially around the top of the net fence frame. Over time, the force moves toward the bottom reaching a depth around 50 cm above ground in the latter half of the snowmelt season. Observations at different periods are ongoing for future studies on understanding the settlement force of snowfall on the fence frame affected by differences in the shape of the net.

Keywords: • settlement force • net fence • strain gauge • snowmelt season • heavy snowfall