Methods for ice crossings load capacity calculation

Introduction . The article deals with a problem relevant to the territory of our country – the calculation of the bearing capacity of ice crossings and winter roads. This problem is becoming more and more urgent in connection with the development of the northern territories, an increase in the carrying capacity of road transport and the volume of cargo traffic. At the same time, the construction of permanent roads and bridge crossings requires very large capital expenditures, which are not yet available for the Russian Federation. Methods and materials . A critical analysis of methods for determining by calculation the bearing capacity of ice cover at crossings (the maximum permissible load on the axle of a single car or road train) was carried out.The recommendations of normative and methodological documents on this issue are considered. The presented analysis of domestic and foreign publications made it possible to evaluate mathematical models of different levels of complexity and detail, with a different set of factors influencing the final result. Results . As a result of the research, a summary table, which contains formulas for calculating the bearing capacity of the ice cover, the parameters that are taken into account in these formulas, as well as the values of the bearing capacity calculated using these formulas for two temperatures: 0 °C and minus 20 °C has been compiled. Conclusions . According to the results of the analysis, it can be seen that the largest number of parameters is taken into account in M.M. Kazansky-R.A. Shulman; Q. Wang; ODM 218.4.030-2016 Methodological recommendations for assessing the carrying capacity of ice crossings’ dependencies. At the same time, the value of the bearing capacity, calculated according to the 11th formulas, varies by 2-3 or more times presented. Consequently, the presented mathematical models for predicting the carrying capacity of ice crossings require experimental verification on real objects by dragging the control cargo (with some refinement of this method).