Author(s): Leonard Zabilansky

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Abstract: Water level variations caused by wind, tides or seiche action during periods of open water seldom test the integrity of marine structures. Yet these same variations combined with an ice sheet may severely damage or completely destroy the same structures. Light-duty, pile-founded dock structures, typical of marinas, are especially susceptible to this type of environmental damage. As a wave passes under the ice sheet, the piles impede the free-floating response of the ice sheet. Subsequently, the piles are subjected to an uplifting force equivalent to the hydrostatic force associated with the ice sheet deflection. Over the course of a winter, this repeated loading may incrementally extract the pile from its foundation. This laboratory study used a two-step approach to investigating the uplifting ice force phenomenon. First, a testing technique that reproduced the ice condition surrounding a prototype pile was developed. In the second phase, the testing technique was used to evaluate methods of passively protecting the piles from induced uplift. Highlights of the tests are reported here, but a complete discussion of the test series, including observation and force records on the individual tests are reported by Zabilansky (1987).

DOI:

Year: 1986