The Formation Mechanism and Influence Factors of Highway Waterfall Ice: A Preliminary Study

Zhijun Zhou, Jiangtao Lei, Shanshan Zhu, Susu Qiao and Hao Zhang
Additional contact information
Zhijun Zhou: School of Highway, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China
Jiangtao Lei: School of Highway, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China
Shanshan Zhu: School of Highway, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China
Susu Qiao: School of Highway, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China
Hao Zhang: Shaanxi Provincial Communication Construction Group, Xi’an 710075, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 15, 1-21

Abstract: Highway waterfall ice hazards usually happen in cold regions. However, minimal research has addressed this so far due to its multidisciplinary nature. In this study, ground water monitoring tests were conducted for 2.5 years to study the relationship between ground water level changes and waterfall ice hazards. To explore the internal factors that lead to highway waterfall ice, gradation tests, penetration tests, and freezing tests were conducted which revealed that coarse-grained particles can enhance the permeability of aquifers. Further, volume expansion of free water freezing in a closed system is the main reason for pore pressure increasing aquifers in research areas. Furthermore, to understand the formation mechanism of highway waterfall ice further, a mathematical model of saturated coarse-grained soil at the state of phase transition equilibrium was obtained. This indicates that the essence of the aquifers’ freezing (coarse-grained soil) in the waterfall ice area is the freezing of closed water. Finally, based on the abovementioned findings, the formation process of waterfall ice is defined as three stages: The drainage obstruction stage, the soil deformation stage, and the groundwater gushing stage, respectively. This definition can provide significant guidance on further research that focuses on prevention of highway waterfall hazards.

Keywords: highway waterfall ice; ground water; mathematical model; formation mechanism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/15/4059/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/15/4059/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:15:p:4059-:d:252278

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().