Progress and Prospects of Road Engineering Disease Treatment Technology in Permafrost Regions
Freeze-thaw disasters are key issues affecting the service performance and operational safety of road projects in permafrost regions.Under the combined influence of warming and humidification of the permafrost environment and engineering thermal effects,the degradation of permafrost is accelerating,exacerbating the risk of road freeze-thaw diseases.Roads in these regions are more frequently maintained and repaired to ensure service performance,with a service life lower than designed.Therefore,deepening the understanding of the disaster mechanism of road geotechnical structures and strengthening the study on engineering disease treatment technology are of great significance in promoting the construction and maintenance of high-quality and high-grade highways in frozen regions.This paper first expounded on typical types of diseases of roads in frozen regions and explored the formation mechanism and evolution mechanism of the diseases based on internal and external factors,such as frozen soil properties,climate and topography,road materials,and structures.Then the current situations and development of disease treatment technology for roads in frozen regions were discussed according to the different treatment principles.Studies have shown that freeze-thaw subsidence,cracking and pitting,and mud pumping are the main diseases on these roads.The causes include frozen soil properties,climate and topography,road materials and structures,and other factors,with subsidence and deformation induced by soaked and softened foundations due to freeze-thaw water particularly significant.Therefore,the line selection should be fully optimized in road planning.According to the different principles of treatment of in-service road diseases,the existing treatment technologies can be divided into three categories:measures of passively cooling subgrade,measures of actively cooling subgrade,and measures of enhancing frozen soil foundation.Among them,the study and application of the former two categories are relatively systematic and comprehensive,and the subsequent focus should be on improving temperature control performance and the combined use of multiple treatment measures.The frozen soil foundation enhancement technology,with good application prospects and promotion value,is currently under exploration and tests,requiring further study in the design method and construction technology.Moreover,as for the disease treatment technology,the performance of in-service roads should be emphasized and the evaluation of the treatment effects should be strengthened.To reduce the risk of road diseases in frozen regions and ensure the safety of plateau transportation,this study points out that the research direction and focus should be an integrated disease treatment technology centered on a comprehensive chain of"foundation enhancement-subgrade temperature control-integrated drainage".