Review of Cold Regions Hydrology and Hydraulics

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GROUND FREEZING IN PRACTICE By J. S. Harris

Thomas Telford Ltd.; 1995. This is the first major text directed to the artificial ground-freezing method, engineering design of frozen-ground support systems, and construction utilizing the significant strength and impervious nature of frozen ground. The freezing process is transient, that is, when the source of cooling is removed, thawing follows and soil conditions return to "normal" without interference to, or contamination of, aquifers. There are no other books directed specifically to artificial ground freezing for comparison. Beginning in the later 1970s, ad hoc committees have been promoting international and national symposia/conferences on ground freezing at regular intervals. These proceedings constitute a significant source of references, and many of them are referred to in the text. The text contains nine chapters on topics relevant to ground freezing and four appendices on related material. Geotechnical processes, including physical support, ground-water lowering, electroosmosis, injection methods, and compressed air, are compared to the ground-freezing method in Chapter One. Chapters Two and Three review the description, sampling, and testing of frozen soils, and the properties of freezing, frozen, and thawed soils. Engineering design of frozen-ground support systems (shafts, tunnels, underpinning, etc.) in Chapter Four involves both structural and thermal analysis. Time-dependent characteristics of frozen soil are considered in estimating the required wall thickness and inward movement (creep) of the wall. Only references are provided concerning calculation methods for heat removal from the soil, number and spacing of freeze tubes, and required refrigeration capacity. Other design considerations discussed include water movement, low soil moisture contents, and high soil void ratios. Chapter Five describes the refrigeration methods and coolant distribution systems used for the ground-freezing method. Installation of the refrigeration system, generation of the frozen soil walls, excavation while maintaining wall integrity, and construction of the permanent lining are described in Chapter Six. Each stage requires careful monitoring and control (plant performance, freeze wall growth, and integrity) for safe and efficient completion. Information is included on excavation and lining, concreting against frozen soil, back-wall grouting, and freeze-tube recovery or abandonment. Case examples (Chapter Seven) will be of special interest in that examples include ground freezing for shafts and open excavations from the surface, and for tunneling through adverse ground conditions beneath, or adjacent to, sensitive structures. Schematic diagrams and/or pictures are included to illustrate how the principles of freezing design were applied in many of the case examples. Standards and safety (Chapter Eight) are important, particularly in confined spaces (tunnels and shafts) where selected refrigerants (ammonia or liquid nitrogen) are used. A number of regulations, standards, and codes of practice for the United Kingdom are listed along with a brief discussion. Contractual, cost, and risk evaluation considerations are presented in ChapJOURNAL OF COLD REGIONS ENGINEERING / SEPTEMBER 1997/251

Journal of Cold Regions Engineering 1997.11:252-253.


ter Nine. Artificial ground freezing involves a sequence of specialized operations, which influence the contractual relationship set up to cover its execution. Cost will vary between ground-freezing applications, depending on a number of factors that are discussed. Risk evaluation and selection of technique serve to identify and balance the advantages and shortcomings of each method in a rational manner, and evaluate their potential for use in the particular project under review. The appendix provides a list of symposia/society proceedings, conversion factors, summary of ground-freezing projects, evaluation models, and an extensive bibliography. Orlando B. Andersland Prof Emeritus Michigan State Univ. East Lansing, MI48824-/226

COLD REGIONS HYDROLOGY AND HYDRAULICS An ASCE Technical Council on Cold Regions Engineering Monograph Edited by William L. Ryan and Randy D. Crissman

ASCE Press, New York; 1990; 827 pages. Ice in its various forms can significantly complicate everyday activities in hydrologic and hydraulic engineering, such as drainage and water supply, to the extent that additional know-how is often required to conduct those activities in cold regions. The monograph Cold Regions Hydrology and Hydraulics aims at providing an important part of that know-how-a sound understanding of ice-bound hydrologic and hydraulic processes in cold regions. Over the many years people have lived in cold regions, their customs and activities have adapted to the seasonal rhythm of energy and water deficit and excess. Modes of housing, transportation, farming, and dress, for example, have evolved more or less in accordance with the rhythm. Likewise, civil engineering activities have had to adapt. Perhaps the greatest adaptations have been needed for engineering activities related to water-resource projects, because they require the greatest attention to the cadences of cold-regions hydrologic and hydraulic processes. The monograph Cold Regions Hydrology and Hydraulics was prepared in recognition of the need to inform civil engineers practicing in cold regions about cold-regions aspects of hydrology and hydraulics. It is the eighth in a series of monographs prepared by ASCE's Technical Council on Cold Regions Engineering (TCCRE). The common purpose for the monographs is to •'identify, assess, and report the influences and effects on engineering concepts, methods, and facilities in environments where below freezing temperatures may occur for a significant period of time." The present monograph comprises 26 invited papers on diverse facets of hydrologic and hydraulic engineering activities in cold regions. The papers are assembled into three sections-hydrology, hydraulics, and case studies-preceded by a brief introduction. Taken overall, the papers are 252/ JOURNAL OF COLD REGIONS ENGINEERING / SEPTEMBER 1997



well written, informative, and are not cluttered by copious use of equations or technical jargon; in fact, remarkably few equations appear in the monograph. The contributing authors are mainly practicing engineers or field scientists. The papers are primarily descriptions of cold-regions hydrologic and hydraulic processes.The hydrologic processes described include snow drift, avalanches, glaciers, infiltration and ground water, and surface-water runoff. The hydraulic processes described include river-ice formation, lake-ice formation, ice jams, and aufeis. Two papers discuss processes important to the well-being of cold-regions wetlands and fish habitat, topics of keen current interest. Several more papers describe techniques for measuring and monitoring water quantity and quality, and water movement in watersheds. Two additional papers discuss design procedures; one on the design and operation of hydropower intakes, the other on culvert design. The case-study papers include descriptions of snowfall measurements in Alaska, rainfall-runoff relationships and drainage flows in urban Anchorage, the design of sedimentation basins for Anchorage, and water yield from an Alpine watershed in Colorado. The monograph succeeds reasonably well. Practicing civil engineers, its target audience, will find the monograph readable and informative. Its descriptions of hydrologic and hydraulic processes, its suggestions on measurement techniques, and the practical insights it offers should readily enable engineers to gain an appreciation for the additional difficulties of conducting civil engineering in cold regions. In short, the monograph is a useful resource of background information about the practical hydrologic and hydraulic issues attendant to civil engineering in the cold. However, it is not a potential textbook or design manual for hydrology and hydraulics in cold regions. Several probably inevitable shortcomings cause it to fall short of that role. The main shortcomings are gaps in coverage of cold-regions hydrology and hydraulics topics, a marginally adequate overall synthesis of the topics covered, and perhaps an overemphasis on Alaskan conditions. These shortcomings are not trivial. They cause the monograph to fall short of being a grand opus on its title subject. The shortcomings reflect a narrower actual intent for the monograph than its title, Cold Regions Hydrology and Hydraulics, implies. The actual intent is made plain in the monograph's introduction, which states, "This monograph addresses a narrow aspect of cold regions engineering, namely the effects of cold weather on the traditional civil engineering disciplines of hydrology and hydraulics." Taken literally, this remark is rather surprising. The subject of cold-weather hydrology and hydraulics, to the contrary, comprise no narrow aspect of cold-regions engineering. It geographically defines cold regions and influences virtually all civil engineering activities conducted in them. What the introduction really means is that the monograph focuses on the practical ways in which hydrologic and hydraulic processes in cold regions affect common civil engineering activities, such as estimating runoff and river flows, designing culverts and water intakes, and placing wells. To a certain extent, it probably is inevitable that there should be gaps in the monograph's coverage. A subject as big as hydrology and hydraulics, even if limited to a context of practical considerations in cold-regions engineering, is difficult to cover fully in a single monograph or book. Moreover, it is notoriously difficult to get all volunteer authors to produce contributions for multiauthored publications. The inclusion of papers describing prominent features of atmospheric-water availability, energy budget, and precipitation patterns in cold regions would have given more sense of how the hydrologic JOURNAL OF COLD REGIONS ENGINEERING / SEPTEMBER 1997/253



cycle functions in cold regions. Also, infonnation on river geomorphology and processes in cold regions and on lake thennodynamics, would have enhanced the monograph. A more synthetic introduction would have further enhanced the monograph. Such an introduction might have presented a "big picture" view of cold-regions hydrology and hydraulics, indicating the geographical extents of cold regions and describing the large-scale spatial and temporal features of water movement and behavior in those regions. In this regard, a map would have been handy. The map on the monograph's cover (and on the cover of all the monographs, for that matter) is misleading. It highlights only the Arctic ice cap in a hemispherical view that extends from the North Pole to the equator. Certainly, as the monograph's introduction points out, cold regions are unique for their significant periods of below freezing temperature, the predominance of snow as the main fonn of water precipitation, and the presence of ice influencing surface flow of water. But, these features alone do not define cold-regions hydrology and hydraulics. Alpine, Arctic, subArctic, and Midwest watersheds may share common aspects of frigid air, snow, and ice, but they do so in markedly different ways and extents. Moreover, different issues prevail in each watershed. From the big picture, the introduction might then have narrowed its focus and zoomed in on selected aspects, explaining while so doing that the primary purpose of the monograph is to acquaint practicing engineers with the typical or everyday ways in which hydrologic and hydraulic processes affect civil engineering practice in cold regions. The sequencing of topics covered by the papers might then have been outlined and brief synopses of the papers given. The introduction also might have explained the monograph's preponderant Alaskan favor. In some respects, the monograph could have been titled Hydrologic and Hydraulic Engineering in Alaska. The Alaskan flavor is understandable, given the Alaskan connections of most of the contributing authors. Yet the monograph does leave open the mildly nagging question of how the Scandinavians, Russians, and others cope with the cold. Enhancements to the monograph are fairly easy to conceive. The fact of the matter, however, is that the monograph is the useful product of a considerable and praiseworthy effort by its editorial committee and contributing writers. Robert Ettema The University of Iowa Iowa City, IA 52242

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