Adaptive Design for Climate-Resilient Northern Transportation Infrastructure

使北方交通基础设施适应不断变化的气候，有赖于对气候变化对岩土结构性能的影响进行定量评估。“北方交通基础设施”一词在这里指的是在永久冻土上建造的基础设施，“土工结构”指的是地基和土结构。温度升高导致永久冻土融化，岩土结构的抗剪强度和刚度降低。目前气候变暖的趋势正在导致基础设施的不稳定和适用性问题。加拿大北部变暖的速度比加拿大其他地区更快。因此，面对不断变化的气候，我们必须保护北方的基础设施。弹性和效率是加拿大北部基础设施的关键要素。拟议的研究计划旨在开发适应性设计方法，以实现北方交通基础设施在不断变化的气候下的弹性。这项研究建议是我目前NSERC发现赠款的延续，将研究与气候变暖对加拿大北部公路路堤结构稳定性的影响有关的三种创新适应方法。第一种方法是使用吸水土工合成材料来改善路堤填土的结构稳定性。第二种方法是采用土工格栅-土工泡沫复合材料加固结冰多边形地基上的路堤。这两种方法均适用于多年冻土地区新建公路路基。第三种方法是对一种方法进行现代化改造，以加速路基下退化多年冻土的融化，并改善地基土的力学性质。该方法适用于融化敏感多年冻土地区新建和既有路基及冻土退化地区路基。加拿大北部需要交通基础设施，为经济和社会发展提供可靠、成本效益高的服务。加拿大北部是许多原住民的家园，拥有丰富的矿物、石油和水电资源。适当建造和维护公路、机场和河流口岸对于向北方运送货物和服务以及向南方地区运送矿产品是必要的，这有助于北方社区的社会经济福祉。拟议的研究计划将帮助加拿大在气候变化的背景下管理永久冻土地区的基础设施。它将促进寒冷地区工程的研究和实践，并将为学生提供发展寒冷地区工程和气候变化问题的专业知识的机会。接受这一拟议研究计划培训的学生将特别能够应对与北方交通基础设施相关的新出现的工程和可持续发展挑战。

Adapting northern transportation infrastructure to a changing climate relies upon quantitative assessment of the impacts of climate change on the performance of geotechnical structures. The term `northern transportation infrastructure' refers here to infrastructure built on permafrost and `geotechnical structures' refer to foundations and earthen structures. Increased temperatures result in thawing of permafrost and reductions of the shear strength and stiffness of geotechnical structures. The current trends of climate warming are causing instabilities and serviceability issues with infrastructure. Warming in Canada's North is taking place at a faster rate than the rest of Canada. It is therefore critical that we protect northern infrastructure in the face of a changing climate. Resiliency and efficiency are vital elements of infrastructure in Northern Canada. The proposed research program aims at developing adaptive design methods to achieve resilience of northern transportation infrastructure in a changing climate. This research proposal is a continuation of my current NSERC Discovery Grant and will study three innovative adaptation methods related to the effects of climate warming on the structural stability of highway embankments in Northern Canada. The first method is the use of wicking geosynthetics to improve the structural stability of embankment fills. The second method is using geogrid-geofoam composites to stabilize embankments on icy polygonal ground. These two methods are applicable for newly constructed highway embankments on permafrost. The third method is to modernize an approach to accelerate thawing of degrading permafrost below embankments and to improve the mechanical properties of the foundation soils. This method is suitable for newly-constructed and existing embankments on thaw sensitive permafrost and in areas where permafrost is degrading. Transportation infrastructure is needed in Northern Canada to provide reliable, cost-effective services for economic and social development. Northern Canada is home to many First Nations people and is rich in minerals, petrocarbons and hydroelectric resources. Properly constructed and maintained highways, airports, and river crossings are necessary for the delivery of goods and services to the North, and delivery of mineral products to the Southern regions, which supports the socio-economic well-being of Northern communities. The proposed research program will help Canada with the capacity to manage infrastructure in the permafrost regions in the context of a changing climate. It will advance both research and practice in cold regions engineering, and will provide students the opportunity to develop a specialized knowledge of cold regions engineering and climate change issues. Students trained in this proposed research program will be particularly well positioned to tackle emerging engineering and sustainability challenges associated with northern transportation infrastructure.