The effects of culverts on embankment performance in cold regions

• Main Author: Kaluzny, Samuel
• Other Authors: Ormiston, Scott (Mechanical Engineering), Dore, Guy (Universite Laval), Alfaro, Marolo
• Format: Master Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: Finite Element Modelling; Permafrost; Cold Regions; Culvert; Soil Mechanics; Arctic; Northwest Territories; Canada; Tuktoyaktuk; Inuvik; permafrost
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1993/37090

In Arctic regions where permafrost is present, culverts are installed during winter construction where the fill material is placed and compacted under frozen conditions. Culverts affect the thermal and mechanical stability of road embankments. They act as heat conduits during the summer months but depending on its diameter can trap heat during the winter months when their ends are covered with snow. Thawing of the frozen soil around and below the culvert will lead to differential settlements and longitudinal cracks at the road surface and embankment slopes, respectively. In order to study the influence of culverts covered with snow during the winter months on the thermal and mechanical behaviour of frozen fill embankments, a 5-noded thermistor string was installed inside an 800 mm diameter culvert along its length on an existing test section along the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway (ITH) in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Camera traps were installed around the research site to monitor snow depth. In addition, heat transfer and coupled thermal-mechanical finite element models were developed using the commercially-available finite element software ABAQUS. The temperatures recorded from this thermistor string were used as a boundary condition. The models were run for two years of recorded field data obtained from the field to provide an understanding in the thermal regime around the culvert and its associated deformations. February 2023 Government of North West Territories (GNWT)