Meteorological Monitoring - Snow Warning

Project: Meteorological Monitoring - Snow Warning
Location: Stilfserjoch, South Tyrol, Italy

Conceptual formulation
The 2,758 m high Stilfserjoch is one of the highest alpine passes in Europe that can be crossed by motor vehicles. Since, at this altitude, heavy snowfalls can occur even in summer, the road must be cleared of snow or sections of road must be temporarily closed for the safety of road users.

Solution
Up to now, a decision as to whether snow had to be cleared or even whether the pass road needed to be closed down could only be taken after time-consuming travel on site by highway surveyors. Thanks to automatic snow depth measurement and digital cameras that display the condition of the road on site, this decision can now be made from the highway surveyors’ control centre without wasting any time.

Implementation
As soon as preset limits are reached, the system on the pass will send an alarm to the competent authorities, where the situation can be checked out with the help of several digital cameras installed on site. This makes it possible to decide what measures need to be taken. The associated barrier gate system can be operated from the office using an Internet Browser, or employees who are on the move can use a text message to retrieve the data measured by the unit and operate the barrier gate system, if necessary.