Long‐term role of cooling the underlying permafrost of the crushed rock structure embankment along the Qinghai–Xizang railway

Wu, Qingbai; Zhao, Hongting; Zhang, Zhongqiong; Chen, Ji; Liu, Yongzhi

doi:10.1002/ppp.2027

Cited by 43 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Different types and shapes of air convection embankments (ACEs) have been used in Alaska (Thompson Drive 129 ), Canada (Alaska Highway 130 ; Puvirnituk airstrip 131 ), and China 29,132 . For QTR observations showed that embankments with crushed rock structure can adapt to a climate warming of 1.0°C 40,133 .…”

Section: Mitigation Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of permafrost degradation on infrastructure

Hjort

Streletskiy

Doré

et al. 2022

Nat Rev Earth Environ

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266

102

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Degradation of permafrost damages infrastructure and can jeopardize the sustainable development of polar and high-altitude regions. Warming and thawing of ice-rich permafrost is related to several natural hazards, which can pose a serious threat to the integrity of constructions and the economy. In this Review, we explore the extent and costs of observed and predicted infrastructure damages, and methods to mitigate adverse consequences of permafrost degradation. We also present the diversity of permafrost hazards and problems associated with construction and development in permafrost areas.Finally, we highlight seven topics to support sustainable infrastructure in the future. The observed damages are substantial and cumulative problems of infrastructure can be exacerbated owing to the increasing human activity in permafrost areas and climate change.It has been estimated that from one-third to more than half of critical circumpolar infrastructure could be at risk by mid-century. Permafrost degradation-related infrastructure costs could rise to tens of billion US dollars by the second half of the century.To successfully manage with climate change effects in permafrost areas a better understanding is needed about which constructions are likely to be affected by permafrost degradation. Especially, mitigation measures are needed to secure existing infrastructure and future development projects. Key points• Operational infrastructure is critical for sustainable development of Arctic and highaltitude communities, but the integrity of constructions is jeopardized by degrading permafrost.• The extent of observed damages is substantial (up to tens of percentages of infrastructure elements) and is likely to increase with climate warming.• From one-third to more than 50% of fundamental circumpolar infrastructure is at risk by mid-century.• Engineering solutions to mitigate the effects of degrading permafrost exist but their economic cost is high at regional scales.• There is a need to quantify the economic impacts of climate change on infrastructure and occurrence of permafrost-related infrastructure failure across the permafrost areas.• Future development projects should conduct local-scale infrastructure risk assessments and apply mitigation measures to avoid detrimental effects on constructions, socioeconomic activities, and ecosystems in permafrost areas under rapidly changing climatic conditions.

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Section: Mitigation Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of permafrost degradation on infrastructure

Hjort

Streletskiy

Doré

et al. 2022

Nat Rev Earth Environ

Self Cite

266

102

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“…The cooling process of the crushed-rock layer is mainly based on the convective heat exchange of air in winter and thermal insulation in summer (Zhang et al, 2006;Cheng et al, 2007;French, 2007;Ma et al, 2008;Mu et al, 2010a). However, it has also been shown that the cooling effect of the CRE is better in the cold permafrost zone and less effective in the warm permafrost region (Ma et al, 2013;Mu et al, 2018;Wu et al, 2020). Most of the permafrost zone of the QTR adopts the CRE; there are still some permafrost zones for the traditional embankment (TE).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating characteristics of the long-term settlement of railway embankments in warm permafrost areas

Shen²,

Zhou³

et al. 2023

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Introduction: The embankment in the permafrost zone of the Qinghai–Tibet Railway (QTR) faces the problem of permafrost degradation, especially in the warm and ice-rich permafrost areas. The settlement deformation of the embankment is more serious in these areas.Methods: This study systematically investigates the settlement deformation characteristics during 16 operational years of three types of typical roadbed structures. The traditional embankment (TE), U-shaped crushed-rock embankment (UCRE), and crushed-rock revetment embankment (CRRE) are the roadbed structures. The long-term monitoring ground temperature and deformation data of the embankment section along the QTR in warm permafrost areas from 2005 to 2020 are utilized in analysis.Results and Discussion: This study focuses on the influence law of the roadbed structure form, shady–sunny slope effect, and temperature field change on the settlement of the roadbed. The results indicated that the two types of the crushed-rock embankment (CRE) of the long-term cumulative settlement are less than 50% of the cumulative settlement of the TE, and the impact on controlling the settlement is significant. The annual settlements of the three types of embankment structures are related to the artificial permafrost table (APT) and influenced by cyclical climate change at the regional scale. The annual growth rate of the settlement at the left and right shoulders of the UCRE as a result of the effect of the shady–sunny slope does not vary considerably as the number of operational years increases. The impact of the shady–sunny slope on the CRRE for the various settlements before 2008 was negligible. After 2008, the thermal disturbance to the embankment temperature field induced by the preconstruction and the effect of shady–sunny slopes decreased gradually as the number of operational years increased. In some years of operation, a thawed interlayer in the TE and CRRE greatly affected the embankment settlement acceleration. The settlement growth rate of the TE is related to the decline of the artificial permafrost table (APT). During the operational years, there was no thawed interlayer in the UCRE. The development of the settlement rate is unaffected by the temperature field for either the left or right embankment shoulder.

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“…Based on ground temperature and deformation data, the researchers analysed the thermal response of permafrost under the embankment to climate and human activity [15][16][17]. Furthermore, by comparing the thermal stability and deformation stability of different embankment forms, the cooling ability of each structure is evaluated [5,[18][19][20]. However, due to the limitations of field conditions and the lack of enough monitoring data, methods such as numerical simulations other than field monitoring have also been used to study the embankment stability in permafrost regions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental and Numerical Analyses of the Thermal Regime of a Traditional Embankment in Permafrost Regions

Yang

Chen

Shou-hong

et al. 2021

Advances in Materials Science and Engineering

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Traditional embankment is widely used in the permafrost regions along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway (QTR) because of its simple construction and lower cost. However, this form of embankment has insufficient ability to resist external thermal disturbance. To clarify the thermal characteristics of traditional embankment under climate warming, the ground temperature change process of section K1068 + 750 of the QTR was analysed in this study. Based on the field monitoring data from 2006 to 2019 and the established heat transfer model, the past and future changes of permafrost thermal regime under the embankment were analysed. The results show that the degradation of permafrost under the embankment is faster than that under the undisturbed site due to the combined of embankment construction and climate warming. The sunny-shady slope effect related to embankment orientation makes the distribution of permafrost temperature under embankment asymmetric. In the long term, permafrost degrades both under the undisturbed site and embankment. The continuous degradation of permafrost causes the settlement and deformation of embankment, especially the asymmetric degradation of permafrost on sunny side and shady side will cause longitudinal cracks on the embankment. Therefore, timely application of strengthening measures which can slow down the degradation of permafrost and adjust the uneven ground temperature on the sunny and shady sides under the embankment is of great significance to the safety of the traditional embankment.

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Long‐term role of cooling the underlying permafrost of the crushed rock structure embankment along the Qinghai–Xizang railway

Cited by 43 publications

References 36 publications

Impacts of permafrost degradation on infrastructure

Impacts of permafrost degradation on infrastructure

Investigating characteristics of the long-term settlement of railway embankments in warm permafrost areas

Experimental and Numerical Analyses of the Thermal Regime of a Traditional Embankment in Permafrost Regions

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