THE STUDY OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ICE GEOMETRIC CHARACTERISTICS AND THEIR EFFECT ON ICE ACTION

摘要

During the design of piers of the Confederation Bridge, various design parameters including ice velocity, ice thickness, rubble height, ride up and ridge keel properties were considered in the assessment of ice action. After the Bridge opened in 1997, various monitoring programs were initiated to monitor these and other design parameters. One of the major projects includes continuous measurement of ice forces on piers P31 and P32. In the span of thirteen years of monitoring, the relationship between design models and reality has been investigated using the full-scale data from the Bridge. As part of this study, this paper focuses on analyzing the relationship between various ice parameters including: ice thickness, ice velocity, keel depth, interaction height, presence of rubble or ride-up and their effect on ice actions. The relationships between these parameters and their effect on ice actions are derived using data available from the Confederation Bridge monitoring program. The results are also compared and verified with the existing models. The results have confirmed the importance of some parameters and have indicated that others do not have the expected influence. The particular shape of the Confederation Bridge Piers is considered in assessing the results.