VEHICLE BEARING CAPACITY OF FROZEN GROUND OVER A SOFT SUBSTRATE

Freezing temperatures may allow the use of vehicles and heavy equipment on otherwise inaccessible or sensitive areas such as swamps, bogs, tundra, and peatlands. Predicting operable conditions on frozen ground is useful for forestry, mining, oil exploration, construction, and military operations. Guidelines for estimating the frost depth necessary to support a given vehicle load have been generated based on experience in forestry operations on peatlands and similarities in the strength behavior of frozen peat and frozen soils. Correlation with information in the literature leads to a simple equation relating safe trafficability of frozen ground over soft ground: P - Cz2, where P is the maximum load and C is a constant depending on the strength of the frozen layer, which has a thickness z. Values for the constant C and a chart showing required frozen thickness for a variety of vehicles are given. (A)

• Corporate Authors:

  National Research Council of Canada

  1200 Montreal Road
  Ottawa, Ontario  Canada  K1A 0R6
• Authors:
  • Shoop, S A
• Publication Date: 1995-6

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 552-556
• Serial:
  • CANADIAN GEOTECHNICAL JOURNAL
  • Volume: XXXII/III
  • Publisher: National Research Council of Canada

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bearing capacity; Frost; Soils; Temperature; Vehicles; Winter
• Uncontrolled Terms: Cold
• ITRD Terms: 3085: Bearing capacity; 9116: Cold; 2585: Frost; 4156: Soil; 6722: Temperature; 1255: Vehicle; 2575: Winter
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00726369
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transportation Association of Canada (TAC)
• Files: ITRD
• Created Date: Oct 28 1996 12:00AM