Chair of Mining Engineering and Mineral Economics

The NAGEMA project focuses on building a test infrastructure that will allow technical measures against alpine natural hazards such as rockfall or debris flows to be developed and tested under realistic conditions.

The FFG-funded project NAGEMA (Research and Development Center for Natural Hazard Management) represents the expansion of a permanent, cable-guided, 1:1 scale testing infrastructure at the Erzberg mine in Styria. It builds upon the test facilities developed since 2005 by TRUMER Schutzbauten GmbH and the Technical University of Leoben.

The project aims to establish a permanent, large-scale test facility to reproducibly test, further develop, and scientifically evaluate protective systems against rockfall, landslides, slope movements, and avalanche and debris flow processes under realistic conditions at a 1:1 scale.

Following the official groundbreaking ceremony on September 12, 2022, fundamental construction phases were completed and geologically approved by 2026. NAGEMA will be in its final stages of development in 2026. Following the official final approval, which is planned for the beginning of 2027, the commissioning and first regular test series will take place, which, as in the past, will be scientifically supervised by the Chair of Mining Engineering and Mineral Economics at the Technical University of Leoben.

Funding programme: FFG
Our budget: 152.100,00 €
Our role: Scientific partner
Partner: Trumer Schutzbauten GmbH
Duration: Sep. 2022 - Oct. 2026
Start Date: September 2022
Responsible: Dipl.-Ing. Dr.mont. Christian HEISS, MEng.
Contributors: Dipl.-Ing. Jürgen PFOSER