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Technical Note (National Research Council of Canada. Division of Building Research), 1953-02-24
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Frost Action Studies in Canada
Crawford, C. B.
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https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/eng/view/object/?id=d60af743-f435-45e7-8d78-bbc21ec793f3 https://publications-cnrc.canada.ca/fra/voir/objet/?id=d60af743-f435-45e7-8d78-bbc21ec793f3
DIVISION OF BUILDING RESEARCH
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF CANADA
'JrEClHI
N
][CAlL
NOTJE
No.
141NOT FOR PUBLICATION
PREPARED BY CoB. Crawford CHECKED BY
FOR INTERNAL USE
APPROVED BY B.F.Le>
PREPARED FOR D.B.Ro Projeot No.3 DATE Feb.
"24,
1953.SUBJECT Frost Action Studies in Canada
•
Frost action in soils is', an engineering problem which require s co-ordinated study on a national basis. . , Although not Unique to Canadag the problem of frost
penetra-tion and frost acpenetra-tion is especially important in ｴｨｩｾ country. Study 'of ｦｲｯｾｴ action involves stupy of temperature variations
in 9.oilo '
The" first recorded soil temperatures' in Canada' were made more than sixty years ago at McGill Universityo In later years records have been kept at "other locations but these
studies were on a local basis and no general study has been
ｭｾｯ .
With the formation of the N.RoC. Division of Building Research in'1947g one of the first research projects to be '
initiated was the study of soil, temperatures. It· was then proposed that. this study should follow three distinct phases: field measurementsg laboratory studyg and ｡Ｇ｣ｯｮｴｩｮｵｩｮｧＧｲ･ｶｩ･ｾ
of the literature. " , ' , '
In accordance with this'plan ｦｩ･ｬ､ｭ･｡ｳｵｲ･ｾ･ｮｴｳｷ･Ｇｲ･
begun immediatelYo The first measurements were taken in Toronto' (continuing" sOme' started "by R.F. "Legget at the Unl'veI'sity of
Toronto) using recording thermomete:rso In 1949 temperature" measurements'were beg un' 'near the laboratbrie s of' the' Division
in order to'determine the effect on soil" temperatureS of solI type and ､･ｾｳｬｴｙｧ surface 'cover and air temperature (1)0 '
In addition to this systematic measurement 'of soil temperatures g ·'the Water Wc-l"ks- Department of the City "of ｏｴｴｾｷ｡
has co-operated"generously for 'several years by'supplying " records of' frost penetration and' details of soil and surface
conditions ,for every exoavatioh" made ｩｾ winter by "the' Department. These records have proved to' be' extremely valuable (2).
The second phase of the work has been limited to laboratory classification studies of the soils in which ｴ･ｭｰ･ｲ｡ｾ
ture measurements, are made. It is proposed that this work will be extended to a study of the thermal properties and frost
10 20
30
40
50
60
10
80
•
2-The third phase was initiated by ｾ complete review of the relevant literature on soil temperatures
(3)0
This aspect is under constant reviewo As the scope of the work increases, further studies of this nature will be requiredo.
"
The field work for this study was begun on a" small scale in order to avoid great accumulation of data too " formidable for analysis. It now seems possible to extend the observations to cover the whole of Canada but still on a
limited scaleo Accordingly, with due regard to meteorological and soil conditions, about fifteen locations across Canada have been chosen w4ere it is hoped simple information on ｦｲｯｾｴ
penetration can be gatheredo
These observations should be similar to those recorded by the City of Ottawa o In the first instance, simple observations
of the depth of frost in excavations which are opened up ｴｯｷｾｲ､
the end of the winter season are all that are envisaged. It';is expected that these "few locations will form a nucleus for
a "
gene ral study of frost "pene tratiorto Later, if ne cessary, the observations can be extended for a study of other ｣ｬｩｭｾｴｩ｣ andsoil ｾｯｮ､ｩｴｩｯｮｳｯＢ "
For general analysis, frost penetration data will be of use only if taken within a well-defined area where a first class weather pure au, operated by the Department of Transport, is locatedo It is essential to have the following details for a complete analysis at a particular location:
Depth of frost0 Date of excavationo Location in the citYo
General description of the soilo
Nature and thickness of snow- and ice-covero Type and thickness of pavement if any0
Depth "of "frost" and cover conditions of the adjacent 'ground if possible0 • • ,.
Unusual features'which may affect frost penetration such as ne arby' sewers "-and water mains, high ground-"water table or spe cial soil conditions0 " " •
Check lists for assistance in'making these observations can be supplied bythe< Divisiono
For complete coverage of Canada it ｷｩｬｾ be necessary to enlist the co-operation and assistance of interested persons who are prepared to make local studies and will forward their records for general analysiso These data can then be studied together with weather records in the same manner used with Ottawa observationso
3
-The ultimate aim then would be the publication of sufficient information to enable engineers to compute the probable frost penetration, with known conditions, for any region in Canada. 'This Ｑｳｯ｢ｶｩｯｵｾｬｹ a simple statement for a very complex problem. The aim will be attained qrily to a
limited degree--limited by the quality and economic quantity of observations made and limited by the degree to which soil
properties can be averaged and yet retain their, significance. Refer.ences '
10 Legget, R.F., and F.L. Peckover, "Soil Temperature Studies -A Progress Report". Procee,dlngs, Twenty-Ninth Annual'
Meeting 'of the Highway Research Boatid, pp. '434-445, "1949. 2. Legget, R.F., and C.B. Crawford, "Soil Temperatures in Water
Works Practice", Journal ａｭ･ｲｾ｣｡ｮ Water Works Association Vol.
44,
No. 10, Oct. 1952, pp. 923-939.3. Crawford, Carl B., "Soil Temperatures (A Review of Published Records). Highway Research Board Special Report No.2 on
Frost Action in Soils, p. 17 (1952).
