Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions ›› 2017, Vol. 9 ›› Issue (5): 447-454.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1226.2017.00447

• ARTICLES • Previous Articles    

Characteristics of thawed interlayer and its effect on settlement beneath embankment in permafrost regions—A case study for the Qinghai-Tibet Highway

ZhiZhong Sun1, HongLei Wang1,2, WenJie Feng1, YongZhi Liu1,3, ShuJuan Zhang1   

  1. 1. State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China;
    2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China;
    3. Beiluhe Observation and Research Station on Frozen Soil Engineering and Environment in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China
  • Received:2017-01-16 Revised:2017-04-18 Published:2018-11-23
  • Contact: ZhiZhong Sun,sun@lzb.ac.cn E-mail:sun@lzb.ac.cn
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41571064), the Key Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41630636), and the Independent Research of the State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering (No. SKLFSE-ZT-09).

Abstract: Based on ground temperatures and deformations monitored at the Xieshuihe site along the Qinghai-Tibet Highway (QTH) in permafrost regions from 2004 to 2015, variation of artificial permafrost table (APT), maximum frozen depth (MFD), thawed interlayer thickness (TIT) and ground temperature beneath embankment is analyzed, respectively. The results indicate that under the embankment, the change of APT occurred from October to December of that year and presented a deepening trend. The change of MFD occurred from April to June of that year with no obvious change trend, and TIT had an increasing trend year by year, which mainly resulted from the deepening artificial permafrost table. Mean annual ground temperature at 0.5 m depth was 3.91℃ higher beneath the embankment center than that under the natural field. The rising ground temperature at shallow layer of embankment resulted in the development of thawed interlayer beneath the embankment and warming of underlying permafrost. Embankment settlement is closely associated with TIT. Greater settlement easily occurs when permafrost with higher ice content exists under the thawed interlayer, and in turn the settlement is smaller when permafrost with lower ice content exists under the thawed interlayer.

Key words: thawed interlayer, embankment, in-situ monitoring, settlement, Qinghai-Tibet Highway

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