Rockfall Monitoring: Revolutionizing Railway Safety in North America's Mountainous Terrain

Rockfall Monitoring along the Thompson River in British Columbia

Signal maintainers, tasked with safeguarding train operations in this rugged terrain, often contend with alerts from slide fences indicating potential rockslides. In response, trains must slow to a cautious pace until the fences are inspected and reset—a crucial safety measure given the potential for catastrophic derailments caused by unchecked rockfalls. However, a staggering 99.5% of these alerts turn out to be false alarms triggered by harmless elements like small rocks, wildlife, or tree branches.

Despite their frequency, each alert demands serious attention due to the severe consequences that could result from a missed detection. This persistent issue underscores the urgent need for an alternative approach to rockslide detection—one that can discern genuine threats from benign disturbances, thereby ensuring both safety and operational efficiency along this vital transportation corridor.

LiDAR along the tracks are continuously scanning for obstructions.

L.B. Foster, a leading rail technology company based in Pittsburgh, PA, has partnered with CN to address this challenge with their innovative solution: Rockfall Monitoring. This cutting-edge system introduces specialized LiDAR technology designed to enhance railway safety across challenging terrains. Ruggedized and purpose-built LiDAR sensors are strategically placed approximately 90 feet apart along the track, providing overlapping and redundant scan coverage. This setup enables precise detection of rocks within a defined detection zone from the track center, triggering alarms only for hazardous obstructions while ignoring non-threatening objects like wildlife.

Managed by a control system contained in a trackside signal house, Rockfall Monitoring processes LiDAR data onsite and operates relays to indicate track conditions—clear or obstructed. Moreover, the system is equipped with network connectivity to autonomously capture images of alarm events using integrated PTZ cameras, providing precise visual context with each notification. This comprehensive approach significantly reduces delays caused by rockfall incidents, thereby enhancing both safety and operational efficiency along this crucial railway route.

Integrated cameras provide a clear picture of any hazardous events.

According to Michael O’Connell, General Manager at L.B. Foster, deploying Rockfall Monitoring in the Canadian Rockies presented unique challenges including harsh weather conditions, abundant wildlife, and frequent rockfalls. Overcoming these obstacles necessitated the development of robust system hardware and sophisticated detection algorithms capable of filtering out benign triggers such as weather phenomena and wildlife activity, while maintaining a high sensitivity to genuine rockfall threats.

“Deploying Rockfall Monitoring in such an active area has really put our system to the test, and I think shows that it is capable in even the toughest operating conditions,” remarked O’Connell. Since its deployment, the system has successfully detected and alerted railway operators to two qualifying rockfall events that met the predefined criteria for hazardous conditions, showcasing its safety critical reliability for detecting critical incidents. This performance underscores the system's efficacy in safeguarding train operations through proactive and precise rockslide detection, setting a new standard for railway safety in challenging mountainous environments.

L.B. Foster's Rockfall Monitoring represents a transformative leap forward in railway safety technology, demonstrating its capability to mitigate risks and enhance operational reliability in one of North America's most rugged and challenging railway environments. As L.B. Foster continues to prioritize safety and efficiency, innovations like Rockfall Monitoring are poised to play a pivotal role in the future of rail transportation across mountainous regions worldwide.

To learn more, please join Will Becker, Technology Sales Engineer, for an informational webinar about our Rockfall Monitoring solution on Wednesday, August 14, at 12pm PT. Register here.