Abstract:
The aim of this study was to improve the characteristics of surfacing
methods/materials for the temporary support of military vehicles travelling over weak
soils. Both off road travel and poor existing road networks provide problems for
vehicle mobility in military operations under these conditions. Conventional road
construction materials are often in short supply and engineered solutions such as Class
30 & 70 Trackway are expensive and form a significant logistical burden on the
military supply chain. In this situation the use of locally available alternative materials
in the construction of temporary roads can reduce the time taken to get routes
operational, allowing the tempo of operations to be maintained.
The work reported focussed on two main areas of work, namely:
i) The development of a technique for assessing the soil support capacity in
the form of a flat plate (45 x 30 mm) penetrometer to aid the decision/
planning process when faced with poor soil support, and
ii) the evaluation of the relative performance of a range of alternative
materials/ techniques in laboratory conditions at 1/5'*’ scale and full size.
The results of load-sinkage tests of a family of plate sizes indicate that by normalising
the data with respect to plate width a common relationship existed for all plate sizes in
each of the soil conditions investigated. From this, a technique was developed to
estimate the load support of a plate with dimensions equivalent to the contact patch of
a tyre using load-sinkage data from a small plate penetrometer, allowing estimates of:
i) sinkage or rut depth expected from a vehicle load, and
ii) the load at a sinkage equivalent to the tyre contact patch width, a point at
which the vehicles were assumed to be immobilised.
Comparison between the rut depth of a single pass of a towed wheel and the sinkage
from plate tests (45 x 30 mm) were within 20% in a sandy loam soil of bulk unit
weight 12.2 and 13.4 kN/m^. Load sinkage predictions of a 450 x 300 mm plate from
a small plate penetrometer were within 35% in a sandy loam soil with bulk unit
weights of 11.7 and 13.4 kN/m^. Load sinkage predictions for a very weak sandy loam
(11.3 kN/m^) and loose sand (15.1 - 16.1 kN/m^) soils tended to be significantly
underestimated especially at large plate sizes, mainly due to scaling effects in these
David Shorten, 2004 Cranfield University, Silsoe
11
situations as well as the significant re-arranging occurring in weak soil subjected to
loaded plates. Improvements in accuracy to 25-35% could be made in these conditions
by increasing the size of the plate penetrometer to 90 x 60 mm and utilising a
similitude scaling technique.
Materials/techniques for improving soil support have been classified into 4 categories,
namely: sheet materials, rigid members, aggregate materials and stabilisation
techniques. The use of sheet materials, in this case a Hessian geotextile, proved
effective in improving the in situ soil support; it was possible to optimise the width
and placement depth to increase load support by a factor of 1.8. A folded confinement
technique encapsulating a soil fill was developed further, resulting in a 3-fold
improvement in the load support. Tied corduroy techniques performed best with a 5-
fold improvement in load support. Factors such as the rope tension between members
were found to be important to produce a stable road surface. The performance of
aggregates increased with larger aggregate sizes. Increasing the thickness of the
aggregate layer enhanced load support in stone aggregate, while in wood and rubber
aggregate performance is affected by the initial compressibility of the material.
Aggregate mixed with a sand filler proved effective at reducing the compressibility of
the alternative aggregate materials, thus enhancing performance.
The use of alternative materials in military operations has been identified as very
scenario dependent. Alternative materials have been shown to increase the load
support capability of weak soils. Although alternative materials are unlikely to be
used as a substitute in conventional road construction, their use on short sections of
roadway is feasible. Situations where conventional aggregate materials are limited and
an alternative aggregate can be obtained locally would offer a solution enabling
military operations to continue. Significant quantities of materials are required to
construct even small sections of roadway in weak soil conditions; success is very
much dependent on the amount of material locally available, for example a 100 m
section may require 180 m^ of timber aggregate approximately equal to 0.25 ha of a
45 yr Sitka Spruce plantation. This information will be of use to aid decisions made
by the Combat Engineer and has been recommended by the MOD for inclusion in the
Military Engineering Volume.