Detta examensarbete har haft som mål att undersöka tjällyftningen hos en väg i en fältstudie och utvärdera reliabiliteten hos två olika modeller för skattning av tjällyftning. Modellerna som har studerats är Trafikverkets nuvarande, vilken är implementerad i deras vägdimensioneringsverktyg PMS Objekt, samt segregation potential theory. Den studerade vägsträckan är belägen i Kiruna. I vägen har borrkärneprover tagits och vägens obundna lager, inklusive terassmaterial, har blivit analyserade i laboratorium. Dessa tester inkluderar både geoteknisk klassificering och endimensionella frysförsök på terassmaterialet. Materialets tjälfarlighet har klassificerats enligt både Trafikverkets eget och det amerikanska USACEs system. Alla prover, inklusive terrassmaterialet, består huvudsakligen av grus och sand. Enligt båda de använda klassificeringssystemen bedöms alla prover som icke tjälfarliga. Nivåmätningar utförda på vägen visar dock att tjällyftning ändå förekommer i vägen. Denna tjällyftning har inte kunnat modelleras framgångsrikt i PMS Objekt, där ingen tjällyftning alls fås trots att en dimensionerande vinter tillämpas i analysen. Däremot har en god överensstämmelse mellan bakåträknad och empiriskt beräknad tjälfarlighetsklassificering med SP0-värde enligt segregation potential theory kunnat ses. Även när detta beräknas utifrån utförda frysförsök fås en relativt god överensstämmelse. Studiens främsta fynd är att den visar på att även material som bedöms som ej tjällyftande enligt de två systemen för tjälfarlighetsklassificering faktiskt orsakar tjällyftning och att detta omfattar både terrass- och överbyggnadsmaterial. Studien visar att detta tjällyft främst beror på primärt lyft, varför klassificeringarna stämmer ganska väl om endast det sekundära lyftet avses. Studien har även visat på att Trafikverkets nuvarande modell är otillräcklig när det kommer till att modellera tjällyftning för grovkorniga jordar. Slutligen har studien även visat på möjligheten att bedöma jords tjälfarlighet med hjälp av segregation potential theory, även om också denna metod endast kan användas för att modellera sekundärt lyft. / The aim of the master thesis has been to examine the frost heaving of a road in a field study and to evaluate the reliability of two different models for estimation of frost heaving. The studied models are the current one of the Swedish Transport Administration, which is implemented in their road design tool PMS Objekt, and the segregation potential theory. The studied road section is located in Kiruna, in the northern part of Sweden. The road has been cored and the unbound layers of it, including the subgrade, have been analyzed in laboratory. These analyses include both geotechnical characterization and one-dimensional frost heave tests of the subgrade material. The frost susceptibility of the collected material has been classified according to both the Swedish Transport Administrations system and the American USACE’s system. All samples, including the subgrade, consist mainly of gravel and sand. According to both the used classification systems all samples are classified as not frost susceptible. However, the elevation measurements of the road show that frost heaving occurs in it despite this. This heaving has not been possible to model successfully in the program PMS Objekt. In it the frost heave prediction yields no heave at all, despite applying a design winter (worst case) in the analysis. A good conformity has however been observed between back-calculated and empirically evaluated frost susceptibility using segregation potential theory. A quite good conformity has also been observed when the same thing is evaluated from the preformed freeze tests. The most important finding of the study is that even material that is categorized as non-frost susceptible according to the two studied systems actually does heave. This finding includes both subgrade aswell as the unbound material in the superstructure. It has been found that the total frost heave observed in this study originates mainly from primary heaving, meaning the studied systems are quite correct in their frost susceptibility classification if only secondary heaving is intended. The study has also shown that the current model applied in PMS Objekt is poor in predicting the amount of heaving in coarse subgrades. Finally, the study has also shown the possibility to evaluate a soils frost susceptibility using segregation potential theory, although this model aswell is only applicable to secondary heave

Roads and highways in cold regions are negatively affected by settlement of embankments in areas of degraded or degrading permafrost, particularly in areas with mean annual temperatures close to 0°C where permafrost is locally discontinuous. Climate warming and human activities can lead to increases in the temperature of permafrost and to thawing. In regions of discontinuous permafrost, thawing may produce thickening of the active layer, large settlements and non-recoverable shear deformations. These can cause potentially dangerous trafficability issues. The research program involved a test site on Provincial Road PR391, about 18 km northwest of Thompson, Manitoba. The foundation material of PR391 is currently classified as “degraded (thawed) permafrost”. The purpose of this research was to investigate and understand the performance of highway embankments on thawed permafrost. The research involved field instrumentation and data collection, laboratory testing, thermal modelling and frost heave predictions. The results of the field instrumentation and data collection show net heat flow into the ground, as well as development of cyclic seasonal gradients of total head. This is believed to be a significant original contribution to understanding the effects of climate change on highway infrastructure. The results also show that displacements observed at the PR391 embankment are a combination of consolidation and shearing strain of the foundation material. Most studies of embankments concentrate on vertical settlements. This research shows that horizontal movements are also present, a contribution that helps explain the mechanism of lateral spreading. The results of the laboratory testing show that the mechanical and shearing properties of the soil collected from the PR391 embankment are not significantly affected by differences in temperature once water in the soil has actually thawed. The results of the thermal modelling show reasonable trends in simulated ground temperatures compared with the data obtained from the thermistors underneath the embankment. The frost heave prediction of PR391 shows that in situ frost heave characteristics can be estimated by applying the Segregation Potential (SP) frost heave method in field conditions. This provides a valuable field study to the limited number of such studies of Segregation Potential, which are normally done under laboratory conditions.

Roads and highways in cold regions are negatively affected by settlement of embankments in areas of degraded or degrading permafrost, particularly in areas with mean annual temperatures close to 0°C where permafrost is locally discontinuous. Climate warming and human activities can lead to increases in the temperature of permafrost and to thawing. In regions of discontinuous permafrost, thawing may produce thickening of the active layer, large settlements and non-recoverable shear deformations. These can cause potentially dangerous trafficability issues. The research program involved a test site on Provincial Road PR391, about 18 km northwest of Thompson, Manitoba. The foundation material of PR391 is currently classified as “degraded (thawed) permafrost”. The purpose of this research was to investigate and understand the performance of highway embankments on thawed permafrost. The research involved field instrumentation and data collection, laboratory testing, thermal modelling and frost heave predictions. The results of the field instrumentation and data collection show net heat flow into the ground, as well as development of cyclic seasonal gradients of total head. This is believed to be a significant original contribution to understanding the effects of climate change on highway infrastructure. The results also show that displacements observed at the PR391 embankment are a combination of consolidation and shearing strain of the foundation material. Most studies of embankments concentrate on vertical settlements. This research shows that horizontal movements are also present, a contribution that helps explain the mechanism of lateral spreading. The results of the laboratory testing show that the mechanical and shearing properties of the soil collected from the PR391 embankment are not significantly affected by differences in temperature once water in the soil has actually thawed. The results of the thermal modelling show reasonable trends in simulated ground temperatures compared with the data obtained from the thermistors underneath the embankment. The frost heave prediction of PR391 shows that in situ frost heave characteristics can be estimated by applying the Segregation Potential (SP) frost heave method in field conditions. This provides a valuable field study to the limited number of such studies of Segregation Potential, which are normally done under laboratory conditions.