Current rockfall mitigation designs and techniques span preventing the rocks from becoming loose on a rock face/slope to catching them as they near a pre-selected area at the slope's bottom. Many different types of barrier material have been employed to entrap the rocks as well. To design and approve the barriers, previously different testing techniques were utilized with different test site geometries and procedures. This resulted in data that was not easily comparable across testing protocols. The recent endorsement by EOTA (European Organization for Technical Approvals) of an ETAG (European Technical Approval Guideline) for testing and assessing the acceptance for rockfall barriers will soon bring about changes to the marketplace and could influence the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASTHO) guideline in the United States. This paper will address the new guideline and present new barrier designs that will incorporate the most recent barrier innovations.
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