A Risk Management Framework for Ice Cover Operations

Sam Proskin, Al Fitzgerald

In the proceedings of: GeoRegina 2014: 67th Canadian Geotechnical Conference

Session: Cold Regions Geotechnics

ABSTRACT: agement Framework for Ice Cover Operations Sam Proskin & Al Fitzgerald NOR-EX Engineering Ltd., Kamloops, BC, Canada ABSTRACT Ice roads remain a vital transportation link for remote communities and industrial sites in the northern and arctic regions of Canada. Most of the guides and practices for safe operation of ice roads rely on ice bearing capacity charts published by Lorne Gold in 1971. However, this state of practice for ice road design and operations has not taken full advantage of developments in GPR ice profiling, bearing capacity analysis and risk management. This paper presents a risk management framework for ice roads to identify the hazards, assess the risks, develop appropriate risk strategies, and monitor, evaluate and adjust the risk strategies. In an example we show how GPR ice profiling provides more confidence in the characterization of ice thickness used in bearing capacity analysis. The risk management framework allows greater flexibility in managing risk by recognizing the role of design parameters, operational controls, and quality assurance programs. RÉSUMÉ Les routes de glace demeurent un lien essentiel pour les communautés éloignées et les sites industriels dans les régions nordiques et arctiques du Canada. La plupart des guides et pratiques pour une exploitation sécuritaire des routes de glace se basent sur les tables de capacité portante de la glace publiés par Lorne Gold en 1971. ne prend pas avantage de la technologie du Géoradar qui permet un profilage géologique de la glace, une analyse plus précise des capacités portantes en améliorant donc la gestion des risques. Ce document présente un cadre de gestion des risques liés aux routes risques, élaborer des stratégies de risques appropriés ainsi que de surveiller, évaluer et ajuster les stratégies de risque. A travers un exemple, nous montrons comment le Géoradar fournit une analyse qualitative de l'épaisseur de la glace dans l'étude de ses capacités portantes. Le cadre de gestion des risques permet une plus grande flexibilité dans la gestion des risques en reconnaissant le rôle des paramètres de conception, des contrôles opérationnels et des programmes d'assurance de la qualité. 1 INTRODUCTION Many remote communities in northern Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and NWT rely on ice roads for about 8 to 12 weeks each year to provide an affordable link for bringing in bulk supplies, fuel and equipment. Likewise mining, oil and gas and infrastructure sites often rely on ice roads to provide economical supply and access. In all cases ice roads provide significant socio-economic benefits to the communities and industrial sites they connect. Operators of ice roads strive to maintain safety and efficiency while dealing with heavier vehicles and increasing demands. In addition, as the effects of climate change are seen to reduce the once reliable operating seasons, operators are seeking strategies to improve the predictability and confidence levels in the operating windows. Finally, the corporate safety culture has evolved with an increased emphasis on due diligence across all aspects of operations, including working on ice covers. The state of practice for determining allowable loads on ice covers has traditionally been based on empirical ice capacity equation developed by Lorne Gold in 1971. This approach has found its way in to most of the ice bearing capacity guides published in Canada. However, the state of practice ignores two significant advances in technology that were not readily available at the time Gold published his work: (i) Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) ice profiling equipment (Proskin et. al. 2011) and (ii) the modeling tools for ice stress analysis (Masterson, 2009). Another development has been the incorporation of risk management systems in engineering (Amyotte & McCutcheon, 2006). Risk management is a flexible framework for assessing the risks of particular hazards and systematically reducing the risk by eliminating or controlling the hazards to acceptable risk levels. This paper discusses how NOR-EX has used a risk management framework for ice covers that considers the developments in GPR ice profiling and ice stress analysis methods. The ultimate goal is to enable operators to improve the efficiency of ice covers while maintaining safety. 2 STATE OF PRACTICE FOR ICE BEARING CAPACITY Ice roads and ice bridges are structures built over floating ice covers on lakes and rivers in areas where regular road access is either impossible or impractical. Ice platforms/pads are floating ice crossings built to support stationary loads on lakes and rivers. Although floating ice covers have a long history, users have relied on trial and error methods to estimate what loads they could move over them safely based on their own risk/reward terms.

RÉSUMÉ: k Management Framework for Ice Cover Operations Sam Proskin & Al Fitzgerald NOR-EX Engineering Ltd., Kamloops, BC, Canada ABSTRACT Ice roads remain a vital transportation link for remote communities and industrial sites in the northern and arctic regions of Canada. Most of the guides and practices for safe operation of ice roads rely on ice bearing capacity charts published by Lorne Gold in 1971. However, this state of practice for ice road design and operations has not taken full advantage of developments in GPR ice profiling, bearing capacity analysis and risk management. This paper presents a risk management framework for ice roads to identify the hazards, assess the risks, develop appropriate risk strategies, and monitor, evaluate and adjust the risk strategies. In an example we show how GPR ice profiling provides more confidence in the characterization of ice thickness used in bearing capacity analysis. The risk management framework allows greater flexibility in managing risk by recognizing the role of design parameters, operational controls, and quality assurance programs. RÉSUMÉ Les routes de glace demeurent un lien essentiel pour les communautés éloignées et les sites industriels dans les régions nordiques et arctiques du Canada. La plupart des guides et pratiques pour une exploitation sécuritaire des routes de glace se basent sur les tables de capacité portante de la glace publiés par Lorne Gold en 1971.

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Cite this article:
Sam Proskin; Al Fitzgerald (2014) A Risk Management Framework for Ice Cover Operations in GEO2014. Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian Geotechnical Society.

@article{GeoRegina14Paper441,author = Sam Proskin; Al Fitzgerald ,title = A Risk Management Framework for Ice Cover Operations,year = 2014}