Maintenance and Drainage Issues for Gravel and Snow Road Transitions: Case Study at the Scott Base Transition, Antarctica

摘要

The snow roads at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, are the primary transportation corridors for moving personnel and material to and from the airfields servicing intra- and inter-continental air traffic. The majority of the road system is made of snow overlying a snow and ice subsurface. However, at the Scott Base Transition (SBT), the aggregate road leading from Scott Base transitions from the landmass of Ross Island on to the ice shelf and becomes a full depth snow road. Because of the transition between materials, the topography of the area, and extensive use during the austral summer, the SBT is prone to problems unique to that portion of the McMurdo road system and requires specific maintenance activities to remain passable during periods of high temperatures. The SBT area is divided into two subsections. One is the land transition, a soil- or aggregate-surfaced road underlain by permafrost, and the other is the ice transition, a snow-surfaced road underlain by snow and ice. The two sections of the SBT need entirely different construction and maintenance techniques to maintain road surface conditions that will support vehicle traffic. This paper presents some of the issues at the transition area along with maintenance and drainage control measures to alleviate them.