Yahoo!: ‘Living, moving, breathing’ road to the Beaufort Sea will be under the microscope
Researchers are monitoring the underlying cogency of that primary principle.
“I’m involved in research to find possible solutions for expected deformations,” said Marolo Alfaro, a professor of geotechnical engineering at the University of Manitoba.
His project is funded by the government of the Northwest Territories. Alfaro and his team are more than two years into a six-year study. They have been monitoring certain sections of the highway with sensors to get a better understanding of the stability of the embankments the road lays on.
The road was built with this kind of study in mind. Test sections were included during construction to gauge the effectiveness of different road reinforcement methods.
Alfaro said that after this spring thaw they recorded some movement but nothing catastrophic.
He said they are hoping to monitor the effectiveness of road reinforcement on certain sections of the road. So far, “the reinforced section showed less lateral movement compared to the one without reinforcement.”