More detailed info on Frost Heave? Literature? 4

[IJR]

Pals

All I can learn about frost heave and its related problems is

i)Can cause heave,
ii)Depends on soil saturation
iii)Depends on nature of soil,

and codes request you to keep foundation below frost line.

and that is all

This is one of the most poorly quantified issue. Geotech reports do not tell you anything despite detailed borings.

It will be nice to know much more, because loadings and conditions are not the same.

Any detailed info from fellow engineers
Any literature?

Respects
IJR

 

[CarlB]

Wow, I thought this was one of the geotechnical areas with a near-endless supply of literature and research. I guess it depends on your area of the country/continent. Many army/military manuals on arctic engineering...CRREL literature ....eng-tips... Canadian Building Digests. Some key phrases that may help your searches;
"frost heave"
"frost susceptible"
"frost penetration"
"frost classification"
"adfreeze"
"frost-protected foundations"

As mentioned at this site oftenn, for frost heave to occur all 3 conditions must be present;

-Sub-freezing temperatures
-frost-susceptible soil (generally > 5% fines)
-source of water (saturated soil, shallow groundwater, etc)

Hope this helps your quest!

 

[IJR]

CarlB

You are paraphrasing what I said in my original post. I was expecting more lines with more experiences in it.

respects
IJR

 

[Slowzuki]

I don't know what you are looking for, search those resources he listed, they contain piles of detailed information.

You have to design around those 3 key items, you can't load a footing high enough to defeat the frost heave, only the adfreeze in some cases. I think I've seen a number of 100 psi type magnitude for adfreeze adhesion but I don't have a reference handy.

You say loadings and conditions are not the same.

#1 the frost does not care what your loading is, given some time to freeze it will lift it. Period.

#2 Conditions are not that same, thats why you look to see what is in references. Trying to judge the ground moisture is dangerous because that condition can change easily especially if you change the site. You need to use a fill you know can't heave like large clean crush like train bed ballast, or you can keep it above freezing using a frost protected design std.

Authorities are reluctant to accept frost managed designs because they are uncommon. We built one last year, it was traditionally called a rubble trench design but it used clean crush with filter fabric as opposed to its namesake. Took some work to get approved. It was not intended to go through a winter unprotected but it did just fine. No heaves.

 

[mdhshanwil]

IJR--

A nice clearinghouse of information from the USACE Cold Regions Research and Engineering Lab (CRREL) can be had here:

Frozen Ground:

http://www.crrel.usace.army.mil/techpub/CRREL_Reports/html_files/Cat_G.html

See also their reports for structures:

http://www.crrel.usace.army.mil/techpub/CRREL_Reports/html_files/Cat_I.html

Likely more than you want or need here, including a review of the thermodynamics of frost heave!

MDH