Improved Techniques for Construction of Snow Roads and Airstrips

• Main Authors: Lee, Sung M., Haas, Wilbur M., Wuori, Albert F.
• Other Authors: MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIV HOUGHTON
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1988
• Subjects: Terminal Flight Facilities; *RUNWAYS; *SNOW; RATIOS; TEMPERATURE; AIRCRAFT; FIELD TESTS; BEARING STRENGTH; GRAIN SIZE; SURFACES; PROFILES; SNOW COVER; CONSTRUCTION; STRENGTH(GENERAL); CALIFORNIA; ROADS; STRATIFICATION; HARDNESS; ANTARCTIC REGIONS; MICHIGAN; METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY; STATIONS; MEASUREMENT; AIRSTRIPS; SNOWPACKS; SNOW SURVEYS; Antarctic; McMurdo Station; South Pole; Williams Field; Antarc*; Antarctica; South pole
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA200113; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA200113

Rammsonde profile measurements and surface strength (Clegg impact) tests were conducted at selected sites in Antarctica on the snow roadways between McMurdo Station and Williams Field as well as on the aircraft skiway. Rammsonde measurements were also made at several points on the South Pole Station and South Pole Stations. The purpose of the snow pit work was to investigate possible correlation between Rammsonde hardness data of the snowpack and the snow characterization data consisting of profiles of temperature, density, stratification, grain size, and metamorphic state. California bearing ratio (CBR) testing, to supplement previous work, was done in a laboratory coldroom at Michigan Technological University using snow that had been harvested near Houghton, Michigan, during the winter of 1985-86. A report on this will be published separately. The samples were prepared in a compaction machine and tested after sintering times of 7, 14 and 21 days at -10 C. A field test was conducted in Houghton with binder/additive-snow mixes in situ. Keywords: Aircraft skiways, Antarctica, Snow roads, Snow runways, Field tests.