The H4 corridor, which has been allocated €1,154,493, is the most significant work of the SAPYRA European project.
The assembly work in the H4 corridor to reduce the risk of avalanches on the RN20 roads, as part of the SAPYRA project aimed at improving access to Andorra from France, was completed on October 26th, coinciding with the first snowfall.
The H4 corridor is the most significant work of the SAPYRA project due to the level of avalanche risk in the area and the magnitude of the intervention required. The work carried out in the H4 corridor represents €1,154,493 of the €4,336,614 allocated to the project.
The works carried out by the Interdepartmental Directorate of Southwest France Highways (DIRS) have involved the installation of six types of screens on 46 network lines, totaling 1,014 meters of screen, between altitudes of 1,650 and 2,000 meters. The objective of these works is to stabilize the snowpack and significantly reduce road closures in this area. A team of 18 people, including technicians and workers, have worked under challenging conditions of altitude, slope, and weather.
The project has been co-financed at 65% by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Interreg V Spain-France-Andorra (POCTEFA 2014 to 2020). The objective of POCTEFA is to strengthen the economic and social integration of the Spain-France-Andorra border area. Its support focuses on the development of cross-border economic, social, and environmental activities through joint strategies in favor of sustainable territorial development.
Arantec has been selected as the engineering firm for the installation of a nivometeorological station and a remote webcam called Smarty Snow for monitoring the anti-avalanche networks. This setup allows for checking the strength of the networks by installing dynamometers anchored to them, which measure the snow quantity in metric tons.
Smarty Snow is Arantec’s system for avalanche prevention and control, as well as winter road management. This technology helps control the risk of snow avalanches in the mountains, preventing damage to infrastructure and reducing the costs of manual measurements while reaching a greater number of measurement points. Smarty Snow is a comprehensive application that enables real-time recording, visualization, management, and sharing of environmental and snow-related data.
The nivometeorological station allows for access to historical data on the behavior and evolution of snow, real-time measurement of snow depths at different points, and remote monitoring of avalanche-prone areas.
With this project, Arantec continues its international expansion by installing equipment for avalanche prevention and control, as well as winter road management.
