Page 179 - Çevre Şehir ve İklim Dergisi İngilizce - Özel Sayı

Engin Yildiz - İsmail Bulut

3. Findings and Discussion

There are many hotels, temporary accommodation facilities, ski slopes,
residential areas and buildings serving security forces in and around
Palandöken Ski Resort. Especially some hotels and gendarmerie stations are
exposed to avalanche hazard and many structures in the region are under the
threat of an avalanche, which poses a serious issue for the area. The avalanche
starting zones that affect or may potentially affect these structures have been
analyzed through RAMMS program and the results are presented below:

Table 2: Gendarmerie Station Zone AÇBB Avalanche Pressure, Speed and
Elevation Values.

Avalanche Pressure Avalanche Speed Avalanche Elevation
AÇÇÇB NO (kPa) (m/h) (m)

19th 121 20.1 5.67

22nd 422 37.5 12.5

23rd 288 31 9.35

28th 359 34.6 8.34

Table 2 displays significant differences in in avalanche pressure, speed, and
height values in various AÇBB zones. The highest avalanche pressure was
measured as 422 kPa in the 22nd AÇÇB zone, while the lowest avalanche
pressure was measured as 121 kPa in 19th AÇBB (Figure 11). Likewise, the
avalanche speed was detected to be the highest in the 22nd AÇBB with 37.5
m/s and the lowest in the 19th AÇBB with 20.1 m/s (Figure 12). In terms of
avalanche elevation, the highest value of 12.5 meters was also recorded in
the 22nd AÇBB, while the lowest value of 5.76 meters was recorded in the
19th AÇBB (Figure 13). The values directly affecting the gendarmerie station
showed that the pressure reached up to 80 kPa, the speed up to 17 m/s,
and the avalanche height up to 14 meters. Indeed, an avalanche event that
occurred on January 18, 2016, damaged the station’s cafeteria and injured
a soldier. According to these findings, it is predicted that future avalanches
could result in even worse outcomes than the 2016 event.

166 Journal of Environment, Urban and Climate