FROST HEAVE SUSCEPTIBILITY OF HIGHWAY BRIDGE FOUNDATION IN SEASONAL FROST REGION

With the purpose of further investigations and discussions on frost heave susceptibility of highway bridge foundation soil in seasonal frost region to determine its judging criteria so as to solve frost damages of highway bridge, extensive insitu experiments on clayey soil, silty soil and fine sand which are frost susceptible and more common in highway bridge and culvert engineering have been carried out since 1980 by the Heilongjiang Institute of Highway and Transport. In the paper, after brief introduction to the testing approaches, the effects of water content and groundwater level on frost heave susceptibility are systematically analysed. With mathematical treatment of the data obtained a five-grade classification and its criteria for seasonal frost soil of highway bridges are presented, which have been taken into standard specifications in use of the nation to apply in relevant regions.