THE EFFECT OF FROST ON THE DESIGN OF ROADS AND ON THE DIMENSIONING OF ROAD STRUCTURES IN FINLAND

The very cold weather in Finland causes severe damage to road structures. In order to prevent frost damage, it is necessary to set maximum limits for uneven frost heave in winter and to determine the category of frost susceptibility of soil. Besides theoretical calculations, the frost protection design of road structures is mainly based on long experience and measurements of frost depths and frost heaves. Meterological statistics, laboratory tests, and measurements of bearing capacity and road evenness are also very important. Typical transition structures and thermal insulation course are introduced. (a) for the covering abstract of the conference see IRRD abstract no 823365.