Abstract
Herein, long-term field subgrade monitoring was conducted along the Qinghai–Tibet Highway (QTH) on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP) to investigate the sustainable service performance of permafrost highway subgrade and quantitatively evaluate the hazards associated with subgrade differential settlement in permafrost regions at a local scale. In addition, five 60-m-long and 7-m-wide permafrost-subgrade test sites were built, and a parameter defined as the subgrade distress index (SDI) was introduced to develop a data-based quantitative model for assessing hazards associated with subgrade differential settlement. The 10-year monitoring results revealed highly random differential settlement values and locations at the field sites. Differential settlement hazard maps generated using geostatistics based on the monitoring results were beneficial for qualitative analysis of hazard locations and evolution. The hazard assessment results proved that damaged areas can be accurately identified through quantitative model implementation and that the third or fifth year may be a definitive time window for distress maintenance. A three-level early warning strategy for hazards associated with subgrade differential settlement in permafrost regions was suggested: Mild grade I (SDI = 0–0.1), Moderate grade II (SDI = 0.1–0.6), and Severe grade III (SDI = 0.6–1). Long-term monitoring and model assessment are expected to enhance decision-making for highway maintenance management in the permafrost regions.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
All data, models, or codes that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by Shaanxi Province Technology Innovation Guidance Special Project (2021CGBX-38), the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research (STEP) Program (2019QZKK0905), the Shaanxi Province Innovation Capability Support Plan Project (2022TD-16), and the CCCC Scientific and Technological Research Program (2020-ZJKJ-PTJS04, 2020-ZJKJ-QNCX09, and 2020-ZJKJ-PTJS12).
References
Asaoka, A. 1978. “Observational procedure of settlement prediction.” Soils Found. 18 (4): 87–101. https://doi.org/10.3208/sandf1972.18.4_87.
Cai, J. H. 2019. “Settlement and prediction of subgrades in tidal flat areas under repeated water levels.” J. Highway Transp. Res. Dev. 13 (3): 22–32.
Chai, M., Y. Mu, J. Zhang, W. Ma, G. Liu, and J. Chen. 2018. “Characteristics of asphalt pavement damage in degrading permafrost regions: Case study of the Qinghai–Tibet highway, China.” J. Cold Reg. Eng. 32 (2): 05018003. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CR.1943-5495.0000165.
Chen, J., L. Liu, T. Zhang, B. Cao, and H. Lin. 2018. “Using persistent scatterer interferometry to map and quantify permafrost thaw subsidence: A case study of Eboling Mountain on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau.” J. Geophys. Res.: Earth Surf. 123 (10): 2663–2676. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JF004618.
Chen, S., X.-Y. Wang, X.-C. Xu, F. Yu, and S. L. Qin. 2011. “Three-point modified exponential curve method for predicting subgrade settlements.” Rock Soil Mech. 32 (11): 3355–3360.
Cong, C. 2018. Study on the surface deformation of permafrost along transportation corridor in plateau based on Sentinel-1A satellite Interferometric Data. Beijing: Beijing Jiaotong Univ.
Dai, K., G. Liu, Z. Li, D. Ma, X. Wang, B. Zhang, J. Tang, and G. Li. 2018. “Monitoring highway stability in permafrost regions with X-band temporary scatterers stacking InSAR.” Sensors 18 (6): 1876. https://doi.org/10.3390/s18061876.
Daout, S., B. Dini, W. Haeberli, M.-P. Doin, and B. Parsons. 2020. “Ice loss in the Northeastern Tibetan Plateau permafrost as seen by 16 yr of ESA SAR missions.” Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 545: 116404. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116404.
Daout, S., M. Doin, G. Peltzer, A. Socquet, and C. Lasserre. 2017. “Large-scale InSAR monitoring of permafrost freeze–thaw cycles on the Tibetan Plateau.” Geophys. Res. Lett. 44 (2): 901–909. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL070781.
Huang, C.-F., Q. Li, S.-C. Wu, J.-Y. Li, and X.-L. Xu. 2018. “Application of the Richards model for settlement prediction based on a bidirectional difference-weighted least-squares method.” Arabian J. Sci. Eng. 43 (10): 5057–5065. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-017-2909-0.
Huang, X., R. M. Wei, L. Yuan, and X. Q. Li. 2013. “Research on the prediction of high embankment settlement based on the real-time monitoring on-site.” Appl. Mech. Mater. 256: 1754–1760.
Hui, G., S. Qi-chao, and H. Jun. 2016. “Subgrade settlement prediction based on least square support vector regression and real-coded quantum evolutionary algorithm.” Int. J. Grid Distrib. Comput. 9 (7): 83–90. https://doi.org/10.14257/ijgdc.2016.9.7.09.
Kondratiev, V. G. 2017. “Main geotechnical problems of railways and roads in kriolitozone and their solutions.” Procedia Eng. 189: 702–709. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2017.05.111.
Li, Z., S. Wang, J. Zhang, and K. Yuan. 2021. “Quantitative settlement hazard assessment for a permafrost embankment based on distributed optical fiber monitoring.” IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci. 643: 012189. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/643/1/012189.
Liu, H., W. Guo, C. Zhang, and H. Yang. 2019. “Research on the grey Verhulst model based on particle swarm optimization and Markov chain to predict the settlement of high fill subgrade in Xiangli expressway.” Math. Probl. Eng. 2019: 1878296.
Lu, X. F. 2019. Study on differential settlement mechanism and control standard of widening subgrade of Changyu expressway. Heilongjiang, China: Harbin Institute of Technology.
Maadani, O., M. Shafiee, and I. Egorov. 2021. “Climate change challenges for flexible pavement in Canada: An overview.” J. Cold Reg. Eng. 35 (4): 03121002. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CR.1943-5495.0000262.
Nadeem, M., M. Akbar, P. Huali, L. Xiaoqing, O. Guoqiang, and A. Amin. 2021. “Investigation of the settlement prediction in soft soil by Richards Model: Based on a linear least squares-iteration method.” Arch. Civ. Eng. 67 (2): 491–506. https://doi.org/10.24425/ace.2021.137181.
Park, S.-W., and S.-H. Hong. 2021. “Nonlinear modeling of subsidence from a decade of InSAR time series.” Geophys. Res. Lett. 48 (3): e2020GL090970. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL090970.
Quan, B., and X. Lu. 2020. “A subgrade settlement prediction model based on improved particle swarm neural network.” In Proc., 2020 Int. Conf. on Computers, Information Processing and Advanced Education, 152–156. New York: Association for Computing Machinery.
Richards, F. J. 1959. “A flexible growth function for empirical use.” J. Exp. Bot. 10 (2): 290–301. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/10.2.290.
Rouyet, L., T. R. Lauknes, H. H. Christiansen, S. M. Strand, and Y. Larsen. 2019. “Seasonal dynamics of a permafrost landscape, Adventdalen, Svalbard, investigated by InSAR.” Remote Sens. Environ. 231: 111236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2019.111236.
Rudy, A. C. A., S. F. Lamoureux, P. Treitz, N. Short, and B. Brisco. 2018. “Seasonal and multi-year surface displacements measured by DInSAR in a High Arctic permafrost environment.” Int. J. Appl. Earth Obs. Geoinf. 64: 51–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2017.09.002.
Strozzi, T., S. Antonova, F. Günther, E. Mätzler, G. Vieira, U. Wegmüller, S. Westermann, and A. Bartsch. 2018. “Sentinel-1 SAR interferometry for surface deformation monitoring in low-land permafrost areas.” Remote Sens. 10 (9): 1360. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10091360.
Tan, Q., L. Li, and S. Wang. 2014. “Measurement and analysis of high-speed railway subgrade settlement in China: A case study.” Sens. Transducers 170 (5): 184.
Wang, H., and X.-M. Huang. 2011. “Stress and deformation due to embankment widening with different treatment techniques.” J. Cent. South Univ. Technol. 18 (4): 1304–1310. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11771-011-0837-9.
Wang, S., F. Niu, J. Chen, and Y. Dong. 2020a. “Permafrost research in China related to express highway construction.” Permafrost Periglacial Processes 31 (3): 406–416. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.2053.
Wang, X., L. Ding, W. Gao, M. Zhang, and L. Fu. 2020b. “Research on subgrade differential settlement control standard and treatment technology based on driving comfort.” Adv. Mater. Sci. Eng. 2020: 8956458.
Wu, G., Y. Xie, J. Wei, and X. Yue. 2022. “Experimental study and prediction model on frost heave and thawing settlement deformation of subgrade soil in alpine meadow area of Qinghai–Tibet Plateau.” Arabian J. Geosci. 15 (6): 1–12.
Xiong, Z., K. Deng, G. Feng, L. Miao, K. Li, C. He, and Y. He. 2022. “Settlement prediction of reclaimed coastal airports with InSAR observation: A case study of the Xiamen Xiang’an international airport, China.” Remote Sens. 14 (13): 3081. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14133081.
Yang, R., and S. Yuan. 2022. “Monitoring and prediction of highway foundation settlement based on particle swarm optimization and support vector machine.” Math. Probl. Eng. 2022: 2754965.
Yuan, C., Q. Yu, Y. You, and L. Guo. 2017. “Deformation mechanism of an expressway embankment in warm and high ice content permafrost regions.” Appl. Therm. Eng. 121: 1032–1039. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2017.04.128.
Zhang, W. P. 2017. Application of 3D laser scanning in deformation detection of Qinghai–Tibet highway subgrade. Shaanxi, China: Chang’an Univ.
Zhang, X., H. Zhang, C. Wang, Y. Tang, B. Zhang, F. Wu, J. Wang, and Z. Zhang. 2019. “Time-series InSAR monitoring of permafrost freeze–thaw seasonal displacement over Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau using Sentinel-1 data.” Remote Sens. 11 (9): 1000. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11091000.
Zheng, Z., C. Wang, Y. Tang, and H. Zhang. 2015. “Qinghai–Tibet railway thermal dilation monitoring using SAR interferometry.” In Proc., 2015 IEEE 5th Asia-Pacific Conf. on Synthetic Aperture Radar, 218–221. New York: IEEE.
Zhou, H., L. Zhao, L. Tian, Z. Wu, M. Xie, L. Yuan, J. Ni, Y. Qiao, Z. Gao, and J. Shi. 2019. “Monitoring and analysis of surface deformation in the permafrost area of Wudaoliang on the Tibetan Plateau based on Sentinel-1 data.” J. Glaciol. Geocryol. 41 (3): 525–536.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Cold Regions Engineering
Volume 38 • Issue 3 • September 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 1, 2023
Accepted: Feb 7, 2024
Published online: Jun 17, 2024
Published in print: Sep 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Nov 17, 2024
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.