Author 1:
Name & Surname: Kortiev L. I.
Company: North Caucasian Mining Metallurgical Institute—State Technological University (Vladikavkaz, Russia)
Work Position: Professor
Scientific Degree: Candidate of Engineering Sciences
Contacts: ptishkli@mail.ru

Author 2:
Name & Surname: Kortiev A. L.
Company: North Caucasian Mining Metallurgical Institute—State Technological University (Vladikavkaz, Russia)
Work Position: Assistant

Author 3:
Name & Surname: Tskhovrebov I. P.
Company: North Caucasian Mining Metallurgical Institute—State Technological University (Vladikavkaz, Russia)
Work Position: Postgraduate student

Author 4:
Name & Surname: Margiev E. A.
Company: The Ministry of Construction of the Republic of South Ossetia
Work Position: Principal Expert

The paper presents back analysis of methods and technologies to protect areas and transportation routes in mountainous regions worldwide from snow and ice avalanches, earth flows, rock falls and other dangerous hillslope phenomena resulting in death, and high socioeconomic and ecological damage. Emphasizing the exceeding urban growth in mountainous regions, the authors assess the modern conventional structure of avalanche control as expensive, insufficently reliable and inefficient, which holds, among other things, construction of avalanche protection structures along upland roads that are run or under construction at avalanche slopes. The article describes innovative structures and technologies developed at the North Caucasian Mining Metallurgical Institute and patented for protection of upland roads in two variants: for weak avalanche hazardous slopes and for highly hazardous steep slopes. The former involves arrangement of a “catch” between the road and the slope, with a special heating installation for snow and ice melting and water withdrawal downward the subjacent slope. The latter variant is erection of steel structures above the road, to allow avalanching on inclined undulated sheet metal directly down the underlying slope, bypassing the road. The advantages of the proposed avalanche control systems versus the conventional systems are: selective approach to the construction depending on slope steepness and volume of avalanche; appreciable reduction in cost (4 times by estimates) and in time of construction; avoidance of the direct impact of avalanche on an object to be protected; simplicity of construction and maintenance; reliability. The authors identify the main research areas and measures aimed at improvement and advancement of avalanche control systems for the purpose of radical reduction in injuries and socioeconomic and ecological damage due to hazardous hillslope phenomena.
The work has been done under support of the project No. 3851 "The technique of evaluation and rational usage of raw material, water and biological resources in the technogeneous area of the Republic of North Osetiya — Alaniya", executing in the framework of the basic part of the state task.

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