Field Test of a Foamed Polystyrene Board Expedient Road Test Section in Central Alaska.

Abstract

Foamed polystyrene in board stock form was tested as an expedient surface insulation with XM-18 airfield landing mats as a trafficking surface. The insulation was placed on a frozen subgrade in two layers, making a total thickness of four in. The test section was constructed in May 1971 near Fairbanks, Alaska, at the USA CRREL Farmers Loop Road Facility. The section was trafficked with a load cart which applied a total wheel load of 26.2 kips on a C-130 main landing gear wheel having a tire inflation pressure of 80 psi. Four hundred passes of the load cart were made on the test section; the final level surveys showed a minimum of settlement and structural distress to the insulation boards. The maximum depth of thaw beneath the insulation did not exceed 20 in. during each of the summers of 1971 and 1972. This method of expedient road construction would provide satisfactory service throughout a summer thaw season and probably longer without deleterious effects on the subgrade and the adjacent environment.

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 1975
Accession Number
ADA012111

Entities

People

  • North Smith

Organizations

  • Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Construction
  • Dielectric Polymers
  • Environment
  • Field Tests
  • Insulation
  • Landing Fields
  • Landing Gear
  • Polystyrenes
  • Road Tests
  • Subgrades
  • Thickness

Readers

  • Pavement Materials Engineering.
  • Polar and Arctic Studies

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics