RESEARCH ON FOUNDATION DESIGN ON PERMAFROST IN MONGOLIA

Dashjamts Dalai, Ariunjargal Anand, Ninjgarav Enebish, Batsaikhan Anand

In the proceedings of: GeoQuébec 2015: 68th Canadian Geotechnical Conference & 7th Canadian Permafrost Conference

Session: Foundations in Cold Regions / Fondations en régions nordiques

ABSTRACT: Mongolia is a land-locked country in Central Asia, located between Russia and China. The country's high altitude results in cold, dry and harsh climatic conditions with permafrost being widespread through the territory. Permafrost is spread on 63.0 percent of the territory of Mongolia. Although the capital city Ulaanbaatar is sited on area with discontinuous permafrost, in next 10 years projects such as a university campus, a logistics center, fiNew Nalaikhfl residential complex and the extension of railway and highway connecting Russia and China have been planned. Engineering-geological and geotechnical studies have been conducted for these construction projects. This paper emphasizes that the main conditions of permafrost existence are the climate and geocryological location. Regional classification of permafrost areas, in order to select optimal principle of foundation design have been suggested based on the many years of experience and lessons learned from construction works in Mongolian geotechnical and climatic condition.

RÉSUMÉ: La Mongolie est un pays enclavé en Asie Centrale, localisé entre la Russie et la Chine. La haute altitude du pays résulte en des conditions climatiques froides, sèches et rudes avec un pergélisol qui est en train de s™étendre sur tout le territoire. Le pergélisol occupe 63% du territoire de la Mongolie. Même si la ville capitale Ulaanbaatar est située sur une zone de pergélisol discontinu, 10 nouveaux projets, comportant un campus d™Université, un centre de logistique, le bloque résidentiel «New Nalaikh» et l™extension de la voie de chemin de fer et de l™autoroute connectant la Russie et la Chine, ont été planifiés. Les études d™ingénierie géologiques et géotechniques ont été conduites pour la construction de ces projets. Cet article met l™accent sur le fait que les conditions principales de l™existence du pergélisol sont le climat et l™emplacement géocryologique. La classification régionale des zones de pergélisol, dans le but de sélectionner le concept optimal pour les fondation, a été suggérée en se basant sur les nombreuses années d™expérience et sur les leçons tirées des travaux de construction dans les conditions climatiques et géotechniques de la Mongolie. 1 DISTRIBUTION, CLASSIFICATION AND CLIMATIC CONDITIONS OF PERMAFROST EXISTENCE IN MONGOLIA Mongolia is a land-locked country in Central Asia, located between Russia and China. It has an area of 1,565,000 km2 and population of 3 million (Figure 1). Figure 1. Map of Mongolia The formation of the permafrost deposits connected with the mutual relationship of climatic factors of warm and cold seasons of the year especially, peculiarities of warmth exchange between continuous frozen and thawed in summer time soil layers. The process of permafrost formation is developed under the constant influence of many factors such as seasonal changes, composition of the soil deposits, water cycle on ground surface, air temperature, precipitation, elevation level above sea and surface relief. The frozen soil becomes permanent in condition when average annual ground temperature is below 0oC and little heat form the sun penetrates into the ground. Following main factors are thought to influence the formation and development of permafrost in Mongolia: Climatic and geophysical conditions such as ground surface and air temperature, heat exchange between ground and air, solar radiation balance and seasonal changes in climate. Exchange of moisture between soil deposit and atmosphere, underground water position, its quantity and dynamic changes. Geologic and tectonic changes, formation and composition of hard rock layers and fluffy deposits.

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