Form Approved
REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE
OMB No. 0704-0188
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data needed, and completing and reviewing this collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing
this burden to Department of Defense, Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports (0704-0188), 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302.
Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid
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)
June 2000
Technical Report
4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE
5a. CONTRACT NUMBER
5b. GRANT NUMBER
Thaw Weakening and Load Restriction Practices on Low Volume Roads
5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER
6. AUTHOR(S)
5d. PROJECT NUMBER
5e. TASK NUMBER
Maureen A. Kestler, Thomas Knight, and Audrey S. Krat
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 Technical Report 00-6
Hanover, New Hampshire 03755-1290
9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)
10. SPONSOR / MONITOR'S ACRONYM(S)
11. SPONSOR / MONITOR'S REPORT
NUMBER(S)
12. DISTRIBUTION / AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Available from NTIS, Springfield, Virginia 22161.
13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES
14. ABSTRACT
Low volume roads subjected to seasonal freezing are highly susceptible to damage from traffic during midwinter and spring
thaws. Such traffic-induced damage can be minimized by a variety of design methods; however, most are not economically
feasible. As a result, loads are often restricted or prohibited during thaw-weakened periods. While this practice reduces road
maintenance costs, the economic impact on industries that rely on continued heavy trucking can be significant. This report
reviews the process of ice segregation and thaw weakening, and then discusses both quantitative and qualitative results from
a survey on load restriction practices that was distributed to state departments of transportation (DOTs). Survey topics in-
clude state DOT load restriction practices, types and mileage of roads posted, methods for determining dates for imposing
and removing load restrictions, enforcement of restrictions, and feedback from road users.
Load restrictions
Spring thaw
15. SUBJECT TERMS
Low volume roads
Thaw weakening
Seasonal freezing
Traffic restrictions
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)
]Prescribed by ANSI Std. 239.18
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