Flex post fence

A fence for serving as a barrier for dissipating the kinetic energy of boulders rolling down a slope, said barrier comprising:

• at least one pair of posts mountable in upright spaced positions on the side of the slope wherein said posts serve as single anchor points for securing said barrier to said slope, and each has a lower tubular section anchorable in the ground and an upper tubular section spaced from said lower section and connected thereto;
• a flexible barrier, having upper and lower edges, extendable between said upper tubular sections and normally supported in upright position thereby, said barrier being continuous between said pair of posts;
• a resilient flexible joint interconnecting said lower tubular section and said upper tubular section, said joint having a lower end extendable into the entire length of said lower section and an upper end extendable into said upper section;
• means for securing said ends of said joint in said respective post sections, said posts being bendable about said joints upon impact by a boulder against said barrier as the boulder moves down the slope to tip said barrier in a down-slope direction changing the direction of movement of the boulder so that it impacts the ground causing its kinetic energy to be dissipated, said joints springing back after the kinetic energy of the boulder has been dissipated to return said posts to a substantially upright position such that said barrier when impacted by the boulder bends as one unitary whole anchored only at said posts and to reposition said barrier to intercept additional boulders which may roll down the slope, said joint comprises a bundle of cables;
• a first cable wrappable around the top of said lower section of one of said pair of posts and the top of said upper section of the other of said pair of posts;
• and
• a second cable wrappable around the top of said upper section of said one of said pair of posts and the top of said lower section of the other of said pair of posts so that said cables criss-cross over said flexible barrier.

A fence for serving as a barrier for dissipating the kinetic energy of boulders rolling down a slope, said barrier comprising:

• at least one pair of posts mountable in upright spaced positions on the side of the slope wherein said posts serve as single anchor points for securing said barrier to said slope, and each has a lower tubular section anchorable in the ground and an upper tubular section spaced from said lower section and connected thereto;
• a flexible barrier, having upper and lower edges, extendable between said upper tubular sections and normally supported in upright position thereby, said barrier being continuous between said pair of posts;
• a resilient flexible joint interconnecting said lower tubular section and said upper tubular section, said posts being bendable about said joints upon impact by a boulder against said barrier as the boulder moves down the slope to tip said barrier in a down-slope direction changing the direction of movement of the boulder so that it impacts the ground causing its kinetic energy to be dissipated, said joints springing back after the kinetic energy of the boulder has been dissipated to return said posts to a substantially upright position such that said barrier when impacted by the boulder bends as one unitary whole anchored only at said posts and to reposition said barrier to intercept additional boulders which may roll down the slope;
• a first cable wrappable around the top of said lower section of one of said pair of posts and the top of said upper section of the other of said pair of posts;
• and
• a second cable wrappable around the top of said upper section of said one of said pair of posts and the top of said lower section of the other of said pair of posts so that said cables criss-cross over said flexible barrier;
• and
• means for rigidly securing said cables at the upper ends of said lower post sections and said upper ends of said upper post sections such that said cables are restricted from freedom of movement at point of attachment to said posts, said securing means including:
• a pair of spaced bolts extending outwardly through at least one side of wall of each of said post sections;
• and
• a first plate secured to said bolts on one side of each of said post sections;
• and
• a holding nut secured to said first plate on each of said post sections, said cables being wrappable around said posts and crossing over themselves between said first plate and said securing nut to hold said cables against said posts without slippage or freedom of movement.

A fence for serving as a barrier for dissipating the kinetic energy of boulders rolling down a slope, said fence comprising:

• a pair of end posts mounted in an upright position on the side of the slope spaced from each other a distance equal to the length of said fence;
• a plurality of intermediate spaced posts mounted in an upright position on the side of the slope between said end posts wherein said end posts and said intermediate posts each has a lower tubular section having an upper end and a lower end achorable in the ground, an upper tubular section, having an upper end and a lower end, spaced from said lower section and connected thereto, said end posts and said intermediate posts operating as sole anchor points for securing said fence to said slope;
• a flexible barrier, having upper and lower edges, extending between and attached to each of said end posts and said intermediate posts and normally supported in an upright position thereby said barrier being continuous between said end posts and said intermediate posts;
• a resilient flexible joint in each of said end posts and said intermediate posts just above ground level, said joint having a lower end extendable into said lower section and an upper end extendable into said upper section and means for securing said ends of said joint in said respective post sections, said posts being bendable about said joints upon impact by a boulder against said barrier as the boulder moves down the slope to tip said barrier in a down-slope direction changing the direction of movement of the boulder so that it impacts the ground causing its kinetic energy to be dissipated, said joints springing back after the kinetic energy of the boulder has been dissipated to return said end posts and said intermediate posts to a substantially upright position such that said barrier when impacted by the boulder bends as one unitary whole anchored only at said posts and to reposition said barrier to intercept additional boulders which may roll down the slope;
• a first cable extending across said barrier in diagonal zig-zag fashion having a first end connected to said upper end of said upper section of one of said end posts, and extends to and is attached to said upper end of said lower section of the adjacent intermediate post and then extends to and is attached to said upper end of said upper section of the next intermediate post and so on and having a second end thereof connected to said upper end of one of said upper and lower sections of said other end post;
• and
• a second cable extending across said barrier in zig-zag fashion and in criss-crossing relationship with said first cable, having a first end connected to said upper end of said lower section, and extends diagonally to and is attached to said upper end of said upper section of said adjacent intermediate post and then extends diagonally to and is attached to said upper end of said lower section of said next intermediate post and so on and having a second end thereof connected to said upper end of said other of said upper and lower sections of said other end post.