Professional Documents
Culture Documents
H. R. KIVISILD
Folrndation of Canada Engineering Corporation Limited, 805 8th Avenue, S . W., Calgary, Alberta T2P OM2
G. D. ROSE
Forrndarion of Cmrida Engineering Corporation Limited, 9731-51stArte. Ste 210, Edmonton, Alberta T6E4W8
AND
D. M. MASTERSON
Forrndation of Cannda Engineering Corporcltion Limited, 805 8th Avenrre, S . W . , Calgary, Albertci 72P OM2
Received May 27, 1974
Accepted July 30, 1974
During the summer of 1972, a barge load of heavy construction equipment under tow to the
James Bay Project on the eastern shore of James Bay became grounded on a shoal at the mouth of
the Fort George River, only a few miles from its intended destination. Federal Commerce and
Navigation Limited retained Foundation of Canada Engineering Corporation Limited (FENCO)
to study the feasibility of removing the heavy equipment from the barge by an overice crossing.
FENCO personnel visited the site in November and December, 1972, compiled the necessary
environmental data and designed a crossing consisting of ice built up by flooding. Following the
completion of the 100 ft wide (30.48 m) and 74 in. thick (1.88 m) bridge by Sainte-Marie
Construction, the ice bridge was instrumented and tested prior to and during the unloading
process. Parameters measured were thickness, width, temperature, ice soundness, and deflections. Tide readings were also taken.
Loads of 70 t and heavy trucks were removed with no problem. Deflections were very small and
cracking was confined to the tidal zone.
Durant I'Cte 1972, une barge chargee d'equipement lourd de construction destine au projet de la
Baie James sur la rive est de la Baie, s'est CchouCe sur un banc de sable B I'embouchure de la
rivikre Fort George, B seulement quelques milles de sa destination. Federal Commerce and
Navigation Limited a retenu les services de FENCO pour etudier la possibilite de decharger
I'equipement lourd de la barge par I'intermediaire d'un pont de glace. Le personnel de FENCO a
inspect6 le site en novembre et dicembre 1972, a rassemble les donnees nicessaires sur
I'environnement et a projete un passage constitue de glace accumulCe par inondation. A la suite
de I'achkvement d'un pont de 100 pi. de large (30.48 m) et 74 po. d'kpaisseur (1.88 m) par
Sainte-Marie Construction, le pont de glace a ete instrumente et teste avant et pendant les
operations de dkchargement de la barge. Les parametres mesures ont Bte I'epaisseur, la largeur,
la tempkrature, la qualit6 de la glace et les diflexions. Les niveaux de maree ont 6galement ete
relevks.
Des charges de 70 tonnes et des camions lourds ont ete d6charges sans problkme. Les
deflexions ont Bte trks petites et la fissuration a CtC limitee ii la zone de maree.
[Traduit par la Revue]
Introduction
During the first half of the month of January,
1973, an ice bridge was constructed on the
east coast of James Bav from Governors Island
in Riviere La Grande 'to a barge grounded on
a shoal 4400 f t ( 1341 m) from the shore (see
Fig. I ) . FENCO was retained by Federal
Commerce to advise on the feasibility of the
project and to prepare a report on the design
criteria and on the construction procedures required to build a bridge across which heavy
construction equipment could be transported
from the barge to James Bay construction sites
using recommended unloading procedures.
Can. Geotech. J . , 12.58 (1975)
0 I
mI
NO ice Build-up
Necessary In
/ ~ i d o i F l a t Zone
DEBARCADERE
JAMES BAY
.. -
-.
SCALE:
FIG. 1 .
-,-
lOOOOft
Special Problems
Tides
This area of James Bay is an estuary and is
subject to 7 ft (2.1 m) tidal fluctuations at
[ TIDAL CRACK
ZONE
ICE THICKENED
FROM FLOODING
GROUNDED ICE
, . T I D A L CRACK
ZONE
5-
DISCONTINUITY
FLEXURAL
I?
/MECHANISM +
i
Dl
6 = : - Ah
1
If A = 7 f t ( 2 . 1 m )
h = 7 St (2.1 m)
1 = 50 St (15.2 m), a reasonable value to
assume as indicated by experience, then the
maximum crack width at the ice surface
would be about 1 ft (0.3 m ) , certainly nothing which is beyond repair. In actual fact,
the flexural mechanisms are more complex than
this, resulting in more hinges and narrower
1.01
1.1 1.2
1.4
1.7 2
2.5 3
5 6
8 10
15 20
30
N
ONE C H A N C E I N I N ' T H A T T H E T H I C K N E S S
SHOWN WILL B E E Q U A L L E D OR E X C E E D E D
I N ANY ONE YEAR.
FIG.4. Summary of ice growth (values are maximum possible buildup under close
control)
CAN. GEOTECH. J.
CRAWLER
LOAD P,/Q
P/3
VOL.
12, 1975
ON FRONT
~A~XLE
,P
TOTAL
LOAD
Deflection
6 =-ePB -ex(cos BX
2k
[3]
Moment
+ sin BX)
Max. Stress
PZ/2
[71
0.968(h2)w
for w 3 2.5h
183 Moment
[9] Shear
= P e C p x sin
PX
~ e - * ~ ( c oPX
s - sin BX)
where P is assumed equal to 2PY7/3.The maximum moment, and hence maximum flexural
stress, occurs when
c os sin p X )
[lo] V = 0 = P ~ a ~ ~ (/3X
since P # 0 and dX
-+ 0 only as X + a then
cos j?X
and
sin BX
7T
/?X = -
[6]
Max. Moment
Substituting this into the equation for the bending moments, we get
M,,,
C11-I
o r M,,,
=-
= --
enI4sin (n/4)
0.3224 P/B
P
1.9344 -T
Bwh
maximum stress
Now
[12]
Thus
a,,,
20m
3 0m
Calculations of maximum tensile and torsional stresses were carried out on the computer using the above formulas and imposing
a factor of safety of 3.0 against tension failure
in the ice. The design curves of Fig. 6 were
compiled. Transverse beam or torsional stresses
were always well below the critical limit.
The two governing formulas were those describing the stress in an infinite beam and an
infinite plate. The curves slope downward to
the right, indicating, as would be expected, that
less ice thickness is required for wide beams.
The curves eventually became horizontal, indicating that as the beam width increases indefinitely it begins to act as a plate and a
further increase of flooded area is of no use.
Thus, making use of both beam and plate
theory, it was possible to arrive at the optimum
width of structure. The actual width of the
bridge was 100 ft (30.5 m ) .
It must be admitted that calculations based
on extreme fibre elastic stresses yield a lowerbound solution to the problem of the strength
of structures such as this, especially since ultimate strength behavior and compressive membrane action result in actual load capacities
considerably higher than elastic analysis predicts. However, because safety for personnel
and cargo was considered of prime importance,
elastic analysis was considered the wisest approach to the problem.
CAN. GEOTECH.
20
40
60
100
80
ICE T H I C K N E S S (Inches)
FIG.7.
grounded and needed no thickening. The portable nature of the pumps used for the flooding
made them ideal for the continuous flooding
operation, as they could be moved up and
down the ice bridge as required. Spare pumps
were kept in a heated building so that no time
need be lost from freezing and breakdown.
The bridge was kept lighted by sodium vapor
lights mounted on poles cut from the surrounding bush. These lights were operated by a
generator placed at one end of the bridge. On
the whole the operation was very efficient.
TABLE
1. Results of salinity tests
-.
Salinity (%,)
Station*
2
18
+ 66
+ 23
Natural
ice
Built-up
ice
Pump water
0.018
0.009
0.122
0.444
0.333
0.333
Visual Examinations
Ice cores were taken at various stations along
the bridge using a SIPRE ice core auger. In all
cases the built-up ice was sound and of good
quality. From examination of the cores it was
easy to determine the natural-built-up ice interface as the natural ice was clear while the
built-up ice was cloudy because of sediments
trapped during freezing. As a result, it was
KIVISILD ET
FIG. 8.
AL.: FLOATING
in.
65
ICE BRIDGE
Natural ice
thickness
in.
mm
+
+
66
(a)
SECTION
BUILT-UP
(b)
ICE
PROFILE
TIME
(h)
Temperature Profiles
her mist or probes were inserted at station
18 23 at various depths in the ice as shown
in Fig. 11. A hole was drilled in the ice at this
station, the probes were attached to a weighted
cord, let down into the hole and then the hole
was filled with water. A period of 2 or 3 days
was allowed to elapse so that the hole tempera-
(OP
OF ICE AFTER
FLOODING ON J A N . 1 7 / 7 3
THEORETICAL
f (Carslaw 8 Jaeger 1959)
! -20
FIG. 11.
-18
-16
Measured
-14
-12
-10
-8
TEMPERATURE (OC)
-6
-4
-2
temperature p r o f i l e s at s t a t i o n 18
ture could reach equilibrium with the surrounding ice and then temperature readings were
commenced. Readings were taken from January
17 to January 19 when the probe leads were
damaged beyond repair by construction work.
The results are plotted in Fig. 11.
Three sets of readings were taken on January
17, one in the morning before the last flooding
and two in the afternoon after flooding
was completed. The high reading for probe
number two can only be explained on the basis
of a pocket of still unfrozen water in that
particular area. It apparently rectified itself on
following days, as the profiles show.
As can be seen from the profiles, the flooding
on January 17 had a profound effect on the
I
0
+ 23.
68
warm and obviously, from the temperaturc profiles taken, the rapid flooding and buildup rate
was having considerable effect on the mean
tempcrature of the ice mass. Newly applied
laycrs of ice plus heat influx from the warm
water beneath prevent the majority of the ice
mass from attaining temperatures much below
the freezing point. This can be critical if the
water used for flooding is sea water as the ice
formed therefrom has a high salinity, as much
as 20 ; i r , and when warm has a very high brine
content. Since this brine is detrimental to ice
strengths, it is very important to keep a close
watch on temperatures as flooding and freezing
with sea water proceeds, especially if the resulting structure is to be of a permanent nature.
Conclusions
Elastic platc and beam theory with a factor
of safety of 3.0 in the uncracked condition and
1.0 in thc cracked condition were used to design the bridge. A safe structure 100 ft wide
(30.5 m) and 74 in. thick (1.9 m ) which supported well the loads of up to 70 t imposed
upon it was built. Principle flexural stress, as
opposed to transverse beam or torsional
stresses, werc found t o govern the design.
Actual construction of the bridge proceeded
quickly and 58 in. (1.5 m) of built-up ice was
produced in a period of two weeks. The ice was
built-up by the flooding and freezing in layers
not greater than 1.5 in. (38 mm). Strength
tests and visual examination of cores showed
the ice to be of good quality with an average
Acknowledgments
The authors are very pleased to have had the
opportunity to work on this project with Federal Commerce and Navigation Limited. They
also appreciate the initiative shown by Eastern
Canada Towing Limited and the aid given by
F. S. Minniken of the Salvage Association.
Special thanks is extended to Ste. Marie Construction for the help and cooperation shown
FENCO personnel during the inspection of the
bridge and the gathering of field data.
DENHARTOG,
J. P. 1952. Advanced strength of materials.
McGraw-Hill, Toronto, Ont.
HETENYI,M. 1958. Beams on elastic foundation. Univ.
Mich. Press, Ann Arbor, Mich.
69
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rr
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