A case history and design review of the Kuparuk River Module Crossing and its refrigerated foundation are presented. The Kuparuk Crossing incorporated a number of design and construction innovations to meet the challenges of bridging a major Alaskan North Slope river. Among these challenges was the need for a foundation system--to be placed in a continuous permafrost bed--which could support a 2,500-ton (2.26 × 103 Mg) live load on the bridge deck. A temporary mechanical refrigeration system was provided to refreeze subgrade soil disturbed during construction of this foundation. After the removal of the temporary mechanical refrigeration, a passive thermosyphon system was employed as part of the foundation design to maintain the long-term integrity of the frozen soils. A special procedure was used to install and monitor the passive systems in the foundation piles.

The predictions of the thermodynamic design model are compared to five years of post-construction field measurements. General trends of both future performance and foundation stability are discussed and compared to design assumptions. The performance of ground temperature monitoring equipment is also reviewed.

Keywords:
refrigeration, ground freezing, heat pipe, north slope, bridge, floodplain, ground temperature, upstream oil & gas, freezing, thermosyphon
Copyright 1991, Society of Petroleum Engineers
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