Characterization of two sites for geotechnical testing in permafrost: Longyearbyen, Svalbard

The mean annual air temperature in Svalbard has increased between 3 ℃ and 5 ℃ during the last 40 to 50 years. The continuous warming trend observed in Svalbard during the last 30 years has raised concerns about the stability and durability of existing infrastructure on permafrost and uncertainties related to the design of new structures and infrastructure in the region. It is therefore of special interest and importance to establish a reference field site for geotechnical testing in permafrost in Svalbard. Two benchmark sites are established near Longyearbyen, Svalbard (78°13'N, 15°28'E) for geotechnical testing and evaluation of field investigation methods in saline, permafrost soils. These sites, named “Adventdalen” and “UNIS East” based on their locations, form part of the research infrastructure of the Norwegian GeoTest Sites project. Since 2016, efforts have focused on geotechnical and geothermal characterization and instrumentation of the upper 30 m of the soil stratigraphy. Field investigations included drilling and core retrieval, installation of thermistor strings, CPTU, and ERT. Laboratory investigations focused on index testing and the evaluation of soil thermal properties. This paper characterizes soil conditions at these sites and may serve as a reference for others working with saline, permafrost soilspublishedVersio

Characterization of two sites for geotechnical testing in permafrost: Longyearbyen, Svalbard

The mean annual air temperature in Svalbard has increased between 3 °C and 5 °C during the last 40 to 50 years. The continuous warming trend observed in Svalbard during the last 30 years has raised concerns about the stability and durability of existing infrastructure on permafrost and uncertainties related to the design of new structures and infrastructure in the region. It is therefore of special interest and importance to establish a reference field site for geotechnical testing in permafrost in Svalbard. Two benchmark sites are established near Longyearbyen, Svalbard (78°13’N, 15°28’E) for geotechnical testing and evaluation of field investigation methods in saline, permafrost soils. These sites, named “Adventdalen” and “UNIS East” based on their locations, form part of the research infrastructure of the Norwegian GeoTest Sites project. Since 2016, efforts have focused on geotechnical and geothermal characterization and instrumentation of the upper 30 m of the soil stratigraphy. Field investigations included drilling and core retrieval, installation of thermistor strings, CPTU, and ERT. Laboratory investigations focused on index testing and the evaluation of soil thermal properties. This paper characterizes soil conditions at these sites and may serve as a reference for others working with saline, permafrost soils

Characterization of two sites for geotechnical testing in permafrost: Longyearbyen, Svalbard

The mean annual air temperature in Svalbard has increased between 3 ℃ and 5 ℃ during the last 40 to 50 years. The continuous warming trend observed in Svalbard during the last 30 years has raised concerns about the stability and durability of existing infrastructure on permafrost and uncertainties related to the design of new structures and infrastructure in the region. It is therefore of special interest and importance to establish a reference field site for geotechnical testing in permafrost in Svalbard. Two benchmark sites are established near Longyearbyen, Svalbard (78°13'N, 15°28'E) for geotechnical testing and evaluation of field investigation methods in saline, permafrost soils. These sites, named “Adventdalen” and “UNIS East” based on their locations, form part of the research infrastructure of the Norwegian GeoTest Sites project. Since 2016, efforts have focused on geotechnical and geothermal characterization and instrumentation of the upper 30 m of the soil stratigraphy. Field investigations included drilling and core retrieval, installation of thermistor strings, CPTU, and ERT. Laboratory investigations focused on index testing and the evaluation of soil thermal properties. This paper characterizes soil conditions at these sites and may serve as a reference for others working with saline, permafrost soil

Characterization of two sites for geotechnical testing in permafrost: Longyearbyen, Svalbard

The mean annual air temperature in Svalbard has increased between 3 ℃ and 5 ℃ during the last 40 to 50 years. The continuous warming trend observed in Svalbard during the last 30 years has raised concerns about the stability and durability of existing infrastructure on permafrost and uncertainties related to the design of new structures and infrastructure in the region. It is therefore of special interest and importance to establish a reference field site for geotechnical testing in permafrost in Svalbard. Two benchmark sites are established near Longyearbyen, Svalbard (78°13'N, 15°28'E) for geotechnical testing and evaluation of field investigation methods in saline, permafrost soils. These sites, named “Adventdalen” and “UNIS East” based on their locations, form part of the research infrastructure of the Norwegian GeoTest Sites project. Since 2016, efforts have focused on geotechnical and geothermal characterization and instrumentation of the upper 30 m of the soil stratigraphy. Field investigations included drilling and core retrieval, installation of thermistor strings, CPTU, and ERT. Laboratory investigations focused on index testing and the evaluation of soil thermal properties. This paper characterizes soil conditions at these sites and may serve as a reference for others working with saline, permafrost soils

Factual Report - Permafrost Research Site

Two benchmark sites are established near Longyearbyen, Svalbard (78°13’N, 15°28’E) for long-term geotechnical testing and evaluation of field investigation methods in perennially frozen soils (i.e. permafrost). These sites, named “Adventdalen” and “UNIS East” based on their location, form part the research infrastructure of the Norwegian GeoTest Sites (NGTS) project. Since 2016, efforts have focused on characterization and instrumentation of the upper 30 m of the soil stratigraphy. This report contains all results from field and laboratory tests related to the NGTS permafrost site available as of the revision date. In situ methods include core drilling, electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), piezocone penetration testing (CPT), and monitoring of the ground thermal regime. Laboratory investigations include index, thermal characteristics, and unconfined compression testing. Characterization of the Svalbard permafrost sites are summarized in two reports: (1) a factual report (20160154-06-R) and (2) an interpretation report (20160154-07-R). This report, 20160154-06-R, presents a factual summary of laboratory and in situ testing conducted at the sites in the 2016-2018 period. Site specific tests and methods are described in the present report. Standard methods for laboratory and in situ tests that apply for all NGTS sites are detailed in the general reports NGTS Report 02 (20160154-02-R) and NGTS Report 03 (20160154-03-R), respectively

Standardization of in situ tests and field work

The Norwegian Geo-Test Sites (NGTS) research infrastructure, with funding from The Research Council of Norway, creates a national research test site facility for geotech-nical research. The five national test sites are located in Norway and on Svalbard. The research consortium consists of NGI and NTNU, SINTEF/UNIS and NPRA (Norwegian Public Roads Administration). The research project aims at developing five sites as field laboratories for the testing and verification of innovative soil investigation and testing methods. The sites cover the soil conditions of soft clay, quick clay, silt, sand and per-mafrost. At the end of the project, the test sites will serve as reference sites for the in-dustry, public authorities, research organizations and academia where benchmarked data can be used by several generations of scientists and engineers to develop soil material models, new investigation methods, new foundation solutions and advance the state-of-the-art. The five sites will be operative for at least 10-20 yrs. To ensure quality of the data generated in the project and to ensure as much uniformity of the results as possible it is important that all partners performing work at the sites follow the same test procedures and standards. The present report give an overview of the main in situ testing methods and sampling techniques to be used in the NGTS project. Work at the NGTS sites shall be performed according to the referenced standards and requirements listed in the present report.Research Council of Norway (RCN

Norway's National GeoTest Site Research Infrastructure (NGTS)

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