Evaluation of snow-retarding ability of protective forest belts along the railway line Yekaterinburg – Kamensk-Uralsky

Abstract

The article presents the materials of structural characteristics and snow-retarding capacity of protective forest strips (FSRs) functioning along the Yekaterinburg – Kamensk-Uralsky railway line. The strips were created in 1936 and 1956 of an impervious design. Currently, the overmatured birch and poplar ZLPs along this line have an openwork design. Their snow retention capacity is extremely poor. Snow accumulates not in the strip and its edges on the windward and leeward sides, as it was supposed in the creation of the strips of windproof construction, but is distributed quite evenly between the ROW and the railroad. In this part of the railroad right-of-way, the snow cover height is characterized by consistently high values, in most cases exceeding the values in the open field. In the investigated areas, snow density varies in a fairly narrow range from 0.13 to 0.17 g/cm³. No strict regularities in changing the value of this indicator depending on the location of measuring points relative to the railroad are detected. In general, in order to increase snow-retarding properties as well as stability and durability of ZLP, it is necessary to carry out appropriate maintenance, aimed at preserving and strengthening the snow-retarding function in them.