NEWS BLIPS
UDOT Sets Detonators To Safely Trigger Necessary Avalanches
Editor's Note: This news item was retrieved and first published through KSL.com's website.
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - KSL News reports on new avalanche technology being tested in Little Cottonwood Canyon this winter snow season in Utah. Called Gazex detonators, these are fixed devices that are installed in risky areas of the canyon, and when it is necessary to trigger an avalanche, UDOT workers can cause detonations remotely. A propane/oxygen gas mixture inside the devices causes explosions above the snow, where operators say it is most effective.
According to KSL writer Sean Moody, the Utah Department of Transportation has developed the new tools to keep people safe. UDOT uses detonations to trigger avalanches in unstable areas to minimize the risk of unexpected slides later on that would occur naturally and while people are possibly on the mountain. For years, their primary method was to fire artillery through the canyon from a howitzer cannon. UDOT has installed new detonation devices in Little Cottonwood Canyon and tested them earlier this November. “You don’t have the live artillery. We don’t have to scramble artillery crews if we have a risky area or concern of an area. We have those risky areas already mapped out and that’s where we’re placing these Gazex devices,” said John Gleason, UDOT spokesman.
Read the full article on KSL by clicking here.