| Title | Geophysical surveys, permafrost conditions and infrastructure damage along the northern Yukon Alaska Highway |
| Download | Downloads |
| |
| Licence | Please note the adoption of the Open Government Licence - Canada
supersedes any previous licences. |
| Author | Oldenborger, G A ;
LeBlanc, A -M; Stevens, C W; Chartrand, J; Loranger, B |
| Source | Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 7875, 2015, 61 pages, https://doi.org/10.4095/296704  Open Access |
| Image |  |
| Year | 2015 |
| Publisher | Natural Resources Canada |
| Document | open file |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | on-line; digital |
| File format | pdf |
| Province | Yukon |
| NTS | 115F; 115G; 115J; 115K |
| Area | Burwash Landing; Yukon Alaska Highway |
| Lat/Long WENS | -141.0000 -138.2344 62.6356 60.9017 |
| Subjects | geophysics; surficial geology/geomorphology; Nature and Environment; permafrost; ground ice; geophysical interpretations; geophysical surveys; resistivity surveys; ground probing radar; frost heaving;
groundwater; analytical methods |
| Illustrations | sketch maps; photographs |
| Program | Climate Change Geoscience Land-based Infrastructure |
| Released | 2015 07 29 |
| Abstract | (Summary)
The Yukon Alaska Highway is a vital transportation route connecting the resource rich Yukon to southern Canada and serving as a commercial trade and tourist route between Canada and
Alaska and between the lower US and Alaska. The construction and maintenance of transportation infrastructure in permafrost regions presents challenges and costs that do not exist in other areas due to sensitivity of the engineering properties of the
substrate to changes in temperature. For the Yukon Alaska Highway, road surface and embankment damage can be associated with the prevalence of warm, ice-rich permafrost. Geophysical surveys can potentially provide valuable information on permafrost
and ground-ice conditions. In cooperation with Yukon Highways and Public Works, three sections of the northern Yukon Alaska Highway (23 km) have been identified for testing the usefulness of geophysical surveys for understanding permafrost
degradation and assisting with highway management. Results from capacitive resistivity and ground-penetrating radar surveys were analysed and interpreted along with surficial maps, records from geotechnical borehole investigations, and surface
observations of highway distress such as roughness, longitudinal cracking, embankment failures and differential settlements. Several relationships are observed. 1) Linear settlements are the most frequent and severe type of observed damage often
affecting both the road surface and the embankment. 2) High degrees of road roughness tend to occur over areas mapped as till, however, identified problem areas are largely associated with fluvial and glaciofluvial map units. 3) Observed damage often
occurs with high degrees of highway roughness, but high degrees of roughness are not necessarily accompanied by observable damage. 4) There is no single consistent relationship between roughness or observed damage and borehole observations of
ice-rich sediment or massive ice; observed damage appears to be associated with a variety of local ground ice conditions. 5) The geophysical results help elucidate the terrain conditions and support the conclusion that multiple subsurface processes
contribute to highway degradation. Several geophysical signatures are interpreted as indicative of terrain conditions involving ice-rich ground, frozen ground, thaw-susceptible sediments and shallow groundwater. Interpretation of the geophysical
results is considered most reliable when done in a local context and supported by additional data such as boreholes. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
The Yukon Alaska Highway is a vital transportation route connecting the Yukon to southern Canada and Alaska. The construction and maintenance of
transportation infrastructure in permafrost regions presents challenges and costs that do not exist in other areas. Three sections of the northern Yukon Alaska Highway have been identified for testing the usefulness of geophysical surveys for
understanding permafrost degradation and assisting with highway management. Geophysical survey results are analysed in conjunction with surficial maps, records from geotechnical borehole investigations, and surface observations of highway distress
such as roughness, longitudinal cracking, embankment failures and differential settlements. Observed damage appears to be associated with a variety of ground ice conditions. The geophysical results help elucidate the terrain conditions and support
the conclusion that multiple subsurface processes contribute to highway degradation involving ice-rich ground, frozen ground, groundwater and lithology. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 296704 |
|
|