Construction techniques for the Taklamakan Desert Highway: research on the construction materials and the results of field tests

After conducting many laboratory and field experiments, several key technical issues related to the construction of China’s Taklamakan Desert Highway have been satisfactorily resolved. In particular, considerable progress has been made on the dry compaction of a sand sub-base, road design parameters, the creation of a structure that combines a sub-grade and asphalt pavement, analysis of the stability of a sand sub-base strengthened with geotextiles, and on the development of a complete set of construction techniques. The achievements of this research were successfully applied for the first time in the Taklamakan Desert, where the environmental conditions are extremely harsh. The results suggest that the construction of this highway was economical and that the simple construction methods produced a reliable highway. The resulting highway is believed to be the world’s first long-distance graded highway running through a huge desert with migrating dunes.     

Sedimentary facies during early stages of flooding in an extensional basin: the Brèche Rouge de Carboneras (Late Miocene, Almería/SE Spain)

The intramontane basins of the Betic Cordilleras (SE Spain) formed subsequent to the main phase of orogenic deformation during the middle Miocene in a close genetic relation to the Trans-Alboran Shear zone. Left lateral movements along a local branch (Carboneras fault zone, CF; strike NE–SW) of this zone played a major role in controlling the formation and dynamics of the Nijar-Carboneras Basin. To the south of the fault, a major phase of strike-slip faulting is recorded during the late Tortonian. The expression of this event is the Brèche Rouge de Carboneras (BRC), which seals a deep denudational surface on top of dislocated fault blocks formed by volcanics of the Cabo de Gata complex and early Tortonian shallow marine calcarenite. The sedimentary facies of this widely distributed unit in the Carboneras-Subbasin mirror the submarine topography and the distribution of the fault zones. Along strike-slip fault zones, autoclastic breccias and neptunian dikes preferentially oriented NW–SE and NE–SW occur, which are interpreted to represent the near-surface expression of the faults. Red limestone forms the groundmass of the autoclastic breccia and infills of neptunian dikes, which exhibit multiple phases of opening of fissures, gravitational sedimentary infill, lithification, and renewed creation of cracks. Steep relief, probably along fault scarps, was mantled by epiclastic volcanic conglomerate with a red carbonate matrix. Well-lithified coarse skeletal limestone rich in planktonic foraminifera formed pavements along sediment starved rocky surfaces in deep water. Laterally, within topographic depressions, the pavement limestone grades into thick accumulations of skeletal rudstone composed of fragmented azooxanthellate corals and stylasterid hydrozoans, which were concentrated by powerful bottom currents and gravitiy flows. Within the shallow water zone of dip slope ramps, cross-bedded calcarenite and calcirudite formed. Based on textures, fabrics and biota, rocks of the BRC were grouped into nine genetic lithofacies which document cryptic, deep-aphotic and shallow-photic environments typical of a sediment starved extensional basin.     

Experimental study on mechanism of sea-dike failure due to wave overtopping

This work, which was largely a fruit of China's national marine hazard mitigation service, explicitly reveals the major mechanism of sea-dike failure during wave overtopping. A large group of wave-flume experiments were conducted for sea dikes with varying geometric characteristics and pavement types. The erosion and slide of the landward slope due to the combined effect of normal hit and great shear from overtopping flows was identified the major trigger of the destabilization of sea dikes. Once the intermittent hydrodynamic load and swash caused any deformation (bump or dent) of the pavement layer, pavement fractions (slabs or rubble) on the slope started to be initiated and removed by the water. The erosion of the landward slope was then gradually aggravated followed by entire failure within a couple of minutes. Hence, the competent velocity would be helpful evaluate the failure risk if as well accounted in standards or criteria. However, the dike top was measured experiencing the largest hydrodynamic pressure with a certain cap while the force on the wall increased rapidly as the overtopping intensity approached the dike-failure threshold. The faster increase of the force on the wall than on the landward slope yielded the sequencing of loads reaching hypothetic limits before failure as: dike top – top-mounted wall – landward slope. Therefore, beside the slide failure, the fatigue damage due to the instantaneous hydrodynamic impact might be another mechanism of the dike failure, which did not appear in the experiment but should be kept in mind. Instead of the widely adopted tolerable overtopping rate, a 0.117–0.424 m³/(m s) range of overtopping discharge and a 10 m/s overtopping velocity for the failure risk of typical sea dikes along China's coastlines were suggested, which enables the possible failure risk prediction through empirical calculations. The failure overtopping rate was identified strongly dependent on the pavement material, the landward slope and the dike-mounted wall but showed little variation with the width of the dike top. The flat concrete pavement and gentle landward slopes are suggested for the dike design and construction. For given configurations and hydrodynamic conditions in the experiment, the dike without the wall experienced less overtopping volume than those with the 1-m top-mounted wall. Meanwhile, the remove of the wall increased the failure overtopping rate, which means a certain increase of the failure criterion. Thus, care must be taken to conclude that the dike-mounted wall seems not an entirely appropriate reinforcement for the stability and safety of coastal protections. This should be further checked and discussed by researchers and engineers in the future.     

Dynamic responses of a saturated poroelastic half-space generated by a moving truck on the uneven pavement

A truck–pavement–ground coupling model was established to study the dynamic responses of a saturated poroelastic half-space generated by a moving heavy truck on the uneven pavement. The ground was simulated as a fully saturated poroelastic half-space governed by Biot’s theory. The overlying pavement was simplified as a Kirchhoff thin plate. With the assumption of a sinusoidal pavement surface, the dynamic wheel–pavement force was obtained through a linear Hertizian contact model. The numerical results showed that this dynamic load could make considerable contributions to the stress and excess pore water pressure responses in the ground. Furthermore, the effective stress path of the soil unit beneath the pavement caused by the moving truck was firstly calculated and presented. It was found that the differences between the total stress path and the effective stress path became significant as the truck speed increased, thus the effective stress path was more suitable than total stress path to reflect the stress history of soil elements in the saturated ground during the passage of high-speed traffics.     

颗粒物质对风积沙压实特性影响研究

从颗粒物质的角度探讨了风积沙的压实特性和机理。研究表明,风积沙的重型击实试验曲线呈"双驼峰"形式,表明风积沙具有干压实的特性,水在风积沙的压实过程中扮演着不同的作用;室内振动试验表明振动加速度及振动时间影响着风积沙"巴西坚果效应"与"反巴西坚果效应"之间的转化,从而影响风积沙的振实密度,二者均存在一个产生最大振实干密度的最优值。现场试验通过控制机械参数(振幅A=0.4mm,频率f=48Hz)在压实5遍的时候,可使压实度达到96.8%,CBR值达到25.3,均能满足《公路路基设计规范》要求。     

Dynamic response of a flexible pavement submitted by impulsive loading

The present paper introduces results from measurements on site using a falling weight deflectometer (FWD). This apparatus is used for non-destructive testing of damaged pavement in order to estimate the elastic modulus of each layer. The basin of deflection induced by a controlled load can be determined with precision and can reflect the behavior of the pavement structure. The interpretation of data generated by FWD leans on inverse analysis processes. Data from FWD combined with the thickness of layers inform on the evolution of the Young's modulus of each layer of the structure along the studied road profile. This information can be also used to estimate its lifespan and possible repairs to be carried out.     

黄颡鱼（Pelteobagrus fulvidraco）鳃的超微结构研究

应用光学和电子显微成像技术对黄颡鱼鳃的表面形态特征、鳃小片血管分布及其内部超微结构进行了观察。结果表明,黄颡鱼鳃耙呈长锥形,鳃弓表面具棘状小刺,鳃小片呈褶皱状,镶嵌排列在长条形鳃丝两侧。光镜可观察到鳃小片两侧红色的入鳃和出鳃动脉以及中部片状毛细血管网。鳃耙、鳃弓、鳃丝及鳃小片表面均被扁平上皮细胞覆盖,其表面微嵴形态结构...     

高等级公路面层材料研究

系统地总结了我国高等级公路面层材料研究的成果 ,分析了柔性路面、刚性路面、复合式路面和半刚性路面材料研究的方向、发展趋势以及各种面层材料的优缺点     

土基模量随季节变化规律及其数值的确定

土基回弹模量作为路面设计的重要力学参数,在我国路面设计方法中选取最不利季节的土基回弹模量值作为土基的设计强度,没有考虑一年中含水量变化对土基强度的影响,本文通过分析土基回弹模量随季节含水量的变化规律,借鉴AASHTO设计方法中不同季节模量对路面造成的相对损伤思想,推导出等效回弹模量计算公式uf=0.95107E-5d,提出用等效土基回弹模量值代替最不利季节模量值作为土基强度设计值,不仅能够提高土基自身的抗变形能力,还可以很有效的提高沥青路面结构的整体设计强度。     

京藏高速民和至西宁段冬季路面与地面最低温度变化特征及影响分析

利用2018年1月1日至2020年12月冬季1月、2月和12月-次年2月逐日逐小时京藏高速民和至西宁段常规气象站和交通气象站逐日逐时气象观测资料,分析了冬季逐月平均路面最低温度和地面最低气温的日变化特征及其相关关系,建立了4站冬季各月路面最高温度和最低温度分别与地面最高温度和最低温度的相关性方程,旨在为路面温度精细化预报服务提供参考。结果表明：京藏高速民和至西宁路段4站冬季各月平均路面最低温度和地面最低温度冬季各月具有明显的日变化特征,平均路面最低温度和地面最低温度达到最低值和最高值的时间并不是完全相同;。常规气象站点平均地面最低温度日出/日落的变化速率要高于交通站点平均路面最低温度,并且平均地面最低温度的变化幅度要比路面最低温度变化幅度大。平均地温面最低温度的最高值比路面最低温度的最高值超前1～2h,常规气象站点逐小时地面最低温度＜0℃的时间维持15～18h,交通站点路面最低温度＜0℃的时间维持8～22h。应用统计学方法建立的朝阳站、汉庄站、高庙桥站和老鸦峡站最高和最低路面温度与最高和最低地面温度相关性方程具有很好的实际应用价值,可在实际业务工作中推广应用。