Abstract
The design of living snow fences involves several components. This fact sheet offers a general protocol for the basic elements of design: Fence Orientation, Snow Fall, Fetch Distance, Snow Transport, Required Height, Selecting a Design Age, Optical Porosity, Fence Capacity, and Setback. The general guidelines presented here are adapted from “Controlling blowing and drifting snow with snow fences and road design†(Tabler, 2003), and “Climatological analysis for snow mitigation in New York State†(Tabler, 2000). It is recommended that these sources be consulted to supplement the basic information provided in this fact sheet. After the site assessment phase has sufficiently identified the blowing/drifting snow problem at a site (see Fact Sheet #2 of this series and Chapter 4 in Tabler 2003), the steps in this fact sheet can be followed in the order in which they are presented to create a basic living snow fence design to address the problem. A case-study example from a real living snow fence designed using this step-by-step protocol is provided at the end of the fact sheet.