Snow Road Construction Technique by Layered Compaction of Snowblower Processed Snow.

Elevated high-strength snow roads are constructed over the deep snowfields in Antarctica between McMurdo Station and the Williams Field complex to move cargo and personnel in rubber-tired vehicles. The purpose of this experiment was to simplify the existing techniques developed by the Naval Civil En...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Thomas,M. W., Vaudrey,K. D.
Other Authors: NAVAL CIVIL ENGINEERING LAB PORT HUENEME CALIF
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1973
Subjects:
Snow
Ice and Permafrost
Civil Engineering
(*SNOW
COMPACTING)
(*ROADS
SNOW)
SNOW VEHICLES
TRAFFICABILITY
BLOWERS
TRACTORS
TOWED VEHICLES
ANTARCTIC REGIONS
COLD WEATHER CONSTRUCTION
Antarctic
McMurdo Station
Williams Field
Antarc*
Antarctica
Ice
permafrost
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD0767637
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0767637
Description
Summary:Elevated high-strength snow roads are constructed over the deep snowfields in Antarctica between McMurdo Station and the Williams Field complex to move cargo and personnel in rubber-tired vehicles. The purpose of this experiment was to simplify the existing techniques developed by the Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory (NCEL) for constructing these snow roads. To achieve this objective, new cutter-heads were installed on the ski-mounted snowblower, the pulverized snow was deposited and spread in 4-inch layers which were compacted by walking the area with LGP D-8 tractors. This modified procedure is described as it was performed in the field, followed by a recommended outline for future snow road construction. This new method eliminates the special ski-mounted snow mixers, a savings of both costly equipment and construction time. Tests results show that the experimental snow road densities and shear strengths compare favorably with those of previous roads, built by pulvimixing. The experimental test section held up under two months of wheeled traffic, proving that snow roads built by the new construction technique will give satisfactory service. (Author)

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