WINTER EARTHWORK CONSTRUCTION IN UPPER MICHIGAN

Winter earthwork construction was observed in three counties in Michigan's Upper Peninsula during the 1975-76 season. These included a state highway in Alger County, a county highway in Marquette County being built essentially to state standards, and a series of county road segments in Ontonagon County for primarily local traffic. In all cases, construction methods are used which exclude frozen soil from the central core of the embankment, with frozen soil permitted in the outer slope zone. This zone must be compacted during warm weather as part of final shaping and cleanup. While all projects were technically successful, construction was halted in early February on one project because it was uneconomical for the contractor to continue. The need for frequent removal of snowfall was one factor in this decision. On another project, the contractor successfully exploited soil freezing to form stable smooth haul roads for his scrapers. In this case, the sand was so clean that hauling would have been difficult if the sand had not been frozen. The road construction in Ontonagon County was done by county road commission employees when their time and equipment were not needed for snow removal. Most of the work consisted of raising the grade of existing roads by 18 inches of non-frost-susceptible soil to minimize frost heaving and loss of bearing capacity. This winter activity resulted in better utilization of county equipment and work crews. (Author)

• Corporate Authors:

  Michigan Technological University, Houghton

  Department of Civil Engineering
  Houghton, MI  United States  49931
• Authors:
  • Haas, W M
  • Alkire, B D
  • Dingeldein, J E
• Publication Date: 1977-11

Media Info

• Pagination: 65 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bearing capacity; Civil engineering; Cold weather construction; Construction; Construction equipment; Core samples; Costs; Earthwork; Excavating equipment; Frigid regions; Frost heaving; Frozen soils; Ice; Maintenance; Repairing; Road construction; Roadbuilding machinery; Roads; Sampling; Snow; Snow removal; Soil mechanics; Soils; Temperature; Winter
• Uncontrolled Terms: Construction costs
• Geographic Terms: Michigan
• Old TRIS Terms: Core sampling; Frost heave; Soil bearing capacity
• Subject Areas: Construction; Finance; Geotechnology; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00174864
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Report/Paper Numbers: CRREL-SR-77-40
• Contract Numbers: DACA89-76-C-0914
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 26 1978 12:00AM