REPORT OF THAW PENETRATION AND SUBSIDENCE RUNWAY AND TAXIWAY SECTIONS, THULE AIR FORCE BASE. 1953 AND 1954 THAWING SEASONS

• Other Authors: ARCTIC CONSTRUCTION AND FROST EFFECTS LAB BOSTON MA
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1955
• Subjects: Terminal Flight Facilities; Snow; Ice and Permafrost; Civil Engineering; *FROST HEAVE; *PAVEMENTS; *RUNWAYS; ASPHALT; FREEZING; GREENLAND; ICE; MELTING; PENETRATION; SOILS; SURFACE PROPERTIES; THICKNESS; THULE AIR FORCE BASE; Greenland; Ice; permafrost; Thule Air; Thule
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD0712491; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0712491

Construction of the runway at Thule Air Force Base, Greenland, began in the Summer of 1951. The subsidence of certain runway pavement sections during the summer of 1952 resulted in the initiation of a program of field investigations at those locations. The report presents an analysis of the data obtained during the 1953 and 1954 thawing seasons at the runway and taxiway test installations. An analysis of the pavement subsidence, which occurred in two areas, is given and a correlation is made between subsidence, depth of thaw and the characteristics of the subgrade soils. The effect of pavement surface color is discussed and tentative conclusions are drawn. The existence of a seasonal ground water table is noted and explained.