Pilot project in Tyrol – Unique: digital avalanche information boards on the Nordkette

Innsbruck is the only major city in the Eastern Alps at risk from avalanches. Heavy rainfall threatens parts of the settlement area and paths have to be closed. In the past, the fire brigade was called upon to activate the relevant warning signs, but in an internationally unique pilot, the city will switch to digital warning signs from next winter. “We are installing digital warning or blocking signs in three or four of a total of ten avalanche signs,” Innsbruck’s alderman for safety, deputy BM Johannes Anzengruber, told a news conference on Tuesday. The city can then digitally activate the slot symbols easily and without delay.

Tyrol as a partner
For this purpose, a digital network has been or will be set up with external experts in the field of security management. The country is on board as a partner.

Annoying procedure
Until now, the fire service has manually applied and placed or reversed the signs to indicate closures, which, according to the advice of the municipal avalanche commission, was time-consuming and manual. This cumbersome procedure, in which the firefighters themselves had to go to dangerous areas, will no longer apply in some areas this year. In the future, the city wants to digitize all ten roadblocks.

Special avalanche hotspots in Innsbruck are, according to Werner Haberfellner, head of the avalanche commission, the Kollnerweg and the entrance to the Arzler Alm. The committee will now evaluate the avalanche situation daily until about April 2023. You also get important information from the torrent and avalanche barriers. “We support the committee with a competent assessment of the current protective function of the various protective structures,” says their area construction manager Josef Plank.