Abstract
As a result of climate change and design techniques poorly adapted to permafrost conditions, thermal degradation of permafrost underneath transportation infrastructure is leading to infrastructure instability and increasing maintenance costs. Thermal stabilization methods were developed to counter the effects of permafrost degradation; however, little information on the design procedures is available. The objective of this paper was to describe the development of two rational design methods and to present several design charts developed using numerical simulations, to assist the designers in thermal stabilization of embankments built on thaw-sensitive permafrost. Thermal models were built based on specific field sites and well calibrated to the measured temperature data. The charts were validated using additional data in Yukon and Nunavik, Canada, to improve their robustness and their reliability. Design charts were developed for promising mitigation techniques, including gentle side slopes, high-albedo surfaces, air convection embankments (ACEs), and heat drains.
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Data Availability Statement
The data used during the study were provided by a third party. Temperature data from the Beaver Creek test site (Yukon) and from instrumented section in Nunavik (Quebec) were used to calibrate and validate the developed models as part of this study. Direct request for these materials may be made to the provider as indicated in the Acknowledgments.
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the financial support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the 2013–2020 Climate Change Action Plan, and Transports Québec, as well as the technical and financial support of public and private partners of the permafrost engineering research program ARQULUK for this project. The authors also express their gratitude to Yukon Highways and Public Works and the Bureau de Coordination du Nord du Québec of the Ministère des transports du Québec for providing the thermal data used in this study.
References
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Published In
Journal of Cold Regions Engineering
Volume 35 • Issue 3 • September 2021
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 30, 2019
Accepted: Mar 25, 2021
Published online: May 26, 2021
Published in print: Sep 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Oct 26, 2021
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