| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4676449 | Cold Regions Science and Technology | 2009 | 14 Pages |
Ice is an effective and economical means of supporting loads for construction and resource extraction. The main requirement is to have continuous ice of sufficient thickness to support the intended loadings. Ice has been used to support heavy loads, both mobile and stationary and long-term loads such as oil and gas drilling rigs. It has been used to support the installation of offshore pipelines and related facilities. The paper describes the various uses of ice as a load-bearing medium and presents methods for determining required thicknesses.The bending of floating ice under applied load causes flexural stress to be imposed on the ice cross section. Because ice is weak in tension, the critical stress is the maximum tensile stress at the bottom of the ice directly under the load. The paper presents standard methods of calculating the maximum, extreme fibre stress for different types of loads and presents an allowable stress for safe use of the ice as a load-bearing medium. This allowable stress is also instrumental in ensuring that long term, creep deformation does not result in submergence of the ice surface. The paper presents a method of estimating long-term deflection and also presents a method of assessing the effects of dynamic or moving loads.Grounded ice roads require sufficient thickness to spread applied wheel loads and avoid overstressing of the tundra or seabed. A method of assessing the support provided by widely differing subgrade conditions is presented.Construction methods and techniques for ice roads and structures, including the best types of equipment to use, are presented, with photographs. Issues such as snow removal vs. flooding of thick snow are discussed. Durability of the road surface and surface repairs is outlined.During the construction phase of ice structures, the quality control (QC) tasks verify material quantity and material quality as required by the design. An outline of considerations for this task is presented. Failures and anecdotal information related to the design, construction and use of ice roads and structures are presented, with illustrative photographs.
