Form Approved
REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE
OMB No. 0704-0188
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OMB control number. PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS.
1. REPORT DATE (DD-MM-YY)
2. REPORT TYPE
3. DATES COVERED (From - To)
July 2000
Technical Report
4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE
5a. CONTRACT NUMBER
5b. GRANT NUMBER
Expedient MESL Construction in Cold Weather
5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER
6. AUTHOR(S)
5d. PROJECT NUMBER
Jeffrey A. Stark, Rosa T. Affleck, and Sherri A. Orchino
5e. TASK NUMBER
5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER
7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)
8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT
NUMBER
U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center
Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory
72 Lyme Road
ERDC/CRREL TR- 00-8
Hanover, New Hampshire 03755-1290
9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)
10. SPONSOR / MONITOR'S ACRONYM(S)
Office of the Chief of Engineers
11. SPONSOR / MONITOR'S REPORT
Washington, D.C. 20314-1000
NUMBER(S)
12. DISTRIBUTION / AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Available from NTIS, Springfield, Virginia 22161.
13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES
14. ABSTRACT
A new method of constructing membrane-encapsulated soil layers (MESLs) using plastic membranes, geotextiles, tapes for
sealing the membranes, and absorbents for drying the soil was demonstrated. These materials would allow construction of a
MESL in cold weather. The demonstration took place at Fort Drum, New York, and at Ethan Allen Firing Range, Jericho,
Vermont. Three layers of a 271-g/m2 (8-oz/yd2) geotextile successfully protected the membrane during a puncture test, and
absorbents successfully caused the soil to act drier to increase vehicle trafficability. However, the geotextile is still too weak to
be used in a MESL. Although the individual components performed well, the construction process is too exacting to be
performed successfully and is not recommended for Army engineers.
15. SUBJECT TERMS
Thaw weakening
MESL
Absorbent
Frost-susceptible soils
Moisture-susceptible soils
Expedient road construction Membrane-encapsulated soil layer
16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF:
17. LIMITATION OF
18. NUMBER
19a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON
OF ABSTRACT
OF PAGES
a. REPORT
b. ABSTRACT
c. THIS PAGE
19b. TELEPHONE NUMBER (include area code)
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Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8-98)
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