In the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, there has been an increase in the number and intensity of forest fires in recent years. The destruction of forests by fires exposes large areas of rock, meaning that further sections of road are at risk from rockfalls and debris flows in the future. Furthermore, there is no knowledge of the influence of forest fires on the stability of rocks. There are rock areas that consist entirely of sandstone and rock areas that are not completely solidified. The distribution of this phenomenon in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains is unknown, but it occurs in the Wehlturm area, the Bastei, Velký Pravčický kužel and Pravčická brána, among others. There is a lack of concepts for the economically efficient implementation of preventive safety measures in these areas. The degree and prevalence of the threat to other road sections in the future is also unknown, meaning that planning for reforestation cannot take this aspect into account.

Investigations are carried out into the stability of rock areas, primarily using non-destructive methods. Fire tests are used to determine at which temperatures a sandstone is destroyed and to what extent. Together with the geometric models, numerical models are then generated and used to assess the failure of rock areas in the event of forest fires.

Furthermore, calculations are used to determine which road sections are at risk from missing trees and to what degree, both now and in the future. The existing cross-border information system will be expanded to include these specialised topics.

Further information can be found at https://risk-elbe-labe.eu/index.php/de