Road and Traffic
Juncen LIN, Hang ZHANG, Guoyu LI, Anshuang SU, Kai GAO, Yapeng CAO, Dun CHEN, Xu WANG, Miao WANG
The failure of structures or components in permafrost caused by foundation diseases poses a certain threat to the ecological security of forest region. Based on field investigations of foundations of power foundations along the section Jagdaqi-Mo'he of Beijing-Mo'he national highway and China-Russia crude oil pipelines (CRCOPs) near the forest region in permafrost in Northeastern China, the main distress characteristics and countermeasures of the foundations were analyzed and summarized, and improved countermeasures were proposed. The results from field surveys showed that transmission line towers foundations suffered from frost jacking accounted for 18.1%, including uniform frost jacking (8.5%) and nonuniform frost jacking (9.6%), while foundations with thaw settlement occupied only 3.7%. Fissures (2.7%), spalling (2.7%), cracks (4.3%), erosion (5.9%), tilt (3.7%), and fracture (0.5%) occurred on the concrete foundation surface. The influences of nonuniform frost jacking and tilting had great influence on the safety of the tower. The concrete protective caps were more severely damaged by frost action, exhibiting fissures (15.4%), spalling (8.5%), cracks (15.4%), and erosion (58%). Similarly, the tilting and collapse of utility poles were primarily caused by frost jacking and crack. Based on the above damages, it is suggested to build long-term monitoring systems for tracking the structures in permafrost regions, improve and optimize the existing mitigative measures. The findings provide some references for the design, construction, and damage prevention of infrastructures in permafrost regions, aiming to mitigate the impact of engineering on the ecological environment of natural forest region.