Ice- and cryogel-soil composites in water-retaining elements inembankment dams constructed in cold regions

There are a number of serious problems connected with building and repairing water-retaining elements in embankment dams in cold regions.One of them is the difficulty in finding inexpensive clay materials with the necessary structural properties and using them in thewinter. Another is the cracks that appear in the upper part of a dam when the core freezes to the banks, and leakage along the cracks threatensto destroy the dam. Still another is the process of erosion at the bottom of the core which may occur through fissures in the rock foundationof a dam and in transport constructions. Also, the behaviour of water-retaining elements during earthquakes is unreliable. All of theseproblems can be solved by using ice- and cryogel-soil composites created by cryotropic gel formation (CGF). Our laboratory investigationsdemonstrate that the materials proposed for water-retaining elements have the necessary permeable, plastic, thermophysical, and strengthproperties to solve all of these problems. Certain constructions of water-retaining elements which may prove to be both safe andcost-effective are proposed. However, these ice- and cryogel-soil composites need to be field-validated before they are used in dams andtransport structures in cold regions.