International Symposium on Mitigative Measures against Snow ...

<strong>International</strong> <strong>Symposium</strong> on Mitigative Measures against Snow Avalanches
Egilsstaðir, Iceland, March 11–14, 2008
Protection structures are under preparation in the following towns and villages:
- Bíldudalur – construction of a dam will start this spring and be completed in
the fall.
- Bolungarvík – construction of dams will start this spring and be completed in
2010.
- Ólafsfjörður – construction of a dam is planned in 2008.
- Eyjafjarðarsveit – construction of a small dam at the farm Grænahlíð in 2008.
- Neskaupstaður – design of dams and supporting structures for the Tröllagil
area will start this year.
Current plans aim at the conclusion of construction of protection structures in the various
municipalities in the period 2013−2015, which is about 5 years later than was initially
scheduled. This is partly due to the fact that more towns and villages are threatened by
avalances or landslides than were initially thought and partly because the government decided
to slow down constuctions in the years 2004 to 2007 due to general economic expansion. The
estimated cost of the total effort set out in 1996 now appears to be in the range of 16 to 20
billion ISK. This is within the original estimate when inflation rate is accounted for.
7. CONCLUSIONS
Radical improvements have taken place in safety against avalanches and landslides for most
communities that were thought to be threatened by avalanches and landslides in Iceland, since
the two tragic events ocurred in Súðavík and Flateyri in 1995. Considerable knowledge on
hazard zoning, design of permanent protection structures and construction of the same has
been gathered, awareness has been raised at the municipal level and with the public at large.
Permanent protection structures have already been established in a number of communities
and some have already proven their value. The decision to establish a special fund by the
government to deal with this problem of the past has proved to be very useful and enabled the
small communities to deal with these issues, which they had surely not been able to do
without the support of the fund.
18 The Role of the Icelandic Avalance and Landslide Fund