Regionalized Feasibility Study of Cold Weather Earthwork.

• Main Author: Roberts,William Stephan
• Other Authors: PURDUE UNIV LAFAYETTE IND
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1976
• Subjects: Cartography and Aerial Photography; Snow; Ice and Permafrost; Civil Engineering; *COLD WEATHER OPERATIONS; *COLD REGIONS; *MAPS; *EARTHWORK; LOW TEMPERATURE; UNITED STATES; ECONOMICS; CANADA; ALASKA; EFFICIENCY; THESES; SOIL MECHANICS; SOILS; WINTER; FREEZING; FEASIBILITY STUDIES; CLASSIFICATION; FROST; LABOR; GEOMORPHOLOGY; MOISTURE; TEXTURE; EXCAVATION; ARCTIC REGIONS; EARTH HANDLING EQUIPMENT; PERMAFROST; Arctic; Canada; Ice; permafrost; Alaska
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA029936; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA029936

A regional approach is used to delineate areas in Canada, Alaska, and the conterminous United States, in which selected earthwork operations should receive careful consideration for winter execution. Soil texture and soil form or physical site environment are deemed important physical factors in the economic feasibility of cold weather earthwork. A compatible modern physiographic map of Canada, and the conterminous United States compiled for this study is presented. The physiographic section is the basic areal unit used in the evaluation of winter earthwork feasibility. A generalized soil texture map for Canada, Alaska, and the conterminous United States is developed from geologic and pedologic information. Summary maps showing areally significant soil forms and related feasible earthwork operations are presented. A general discussion of the importance of the soil form in the economic feasibility of winter earthwork is included. A summary matrix is presented which shows, with respect to physiographic sections, the salient information and conclusions developed by this study. At least 94% of physiographic sections have two or more winter earthwork operations that are deemed feasible. Only 5 of 213 sections considered do not have any earthwork operations that appear feasibly implemented in the winter season. Inefficiency curves for manual labor, excavation, and hauling operations, as a function of season and geographic location, are shown. These curves are based on efficiency data published in a Swedish survey, and are calculated from the meteorological factors of temperature, lighting, and precipitation. Master's thesis.