Author(s): Steven F. Daly; Jon Zufelt; Leonard Zabilansky; Devinder Sodhi; Kevin Bjelladeirdre Ginter; Kenneth Eisses; John Oliver
Linked Author(s): Jon Zufelt, Steven F. Daly
Keywords: No keywords
Abstract: A series of four model tests were conducted in the ERDC/CRREL Ice Engineering Environmental Test Basin to simulate the impact of ice shoves from the Arctic Ocean on proposed coastal protection structures to be installed at Barrow, Alaska by the Alaska District of the Corps of Engineers. The structures, designed to protect the shoreline from open-water wave action, are to be constructed by the placement of quarried stones. Ice shoves originating from the Arctic Ocean have long been observed to occur along the shoreline at Barrow, Alaska. The objective of the model tests was to assess the integrity of the proposed structures under the impact of the ice shoves by determining the stability of the stones. A review of available data on ice conditions in the Arctic Ocean off of Barrow, Alaska indicated that representative ice covers are on the order of 1.5-m thick and have a flexural strength of 600 kPa. A 1:20 undistorted model of the proposed armor stone revetment and the immediate shoreline was constructed. The model reproduced approximately 120m of shoreline and covered the distance from the mean water line to the back of the revetment. The model was supported on platform mounted on a rolling gantry with eight wheels that was pushed by the Test Basin carriage into the stationary ice. Each test represented approximately 600 m of prototype ice being driven up the shoreline against the structure. The revetment performance was determined by before and after elevation profiles and visual inspection. The stone placement method, random or selective, and the size of the stones were varied between tests. Selective placement of the stones, that is carefully placing the stones to interlock and support each other, provided a much greater degree of stability during ice shoves than random placement. The size and placement of the stones at the toe of the revetment was also found to be an important factor in the stability of the revetment.
Year: 2008