Accounting for the impact of hazardous frost action involving stone run formation in the design of structures on the example of overhead line towers for Udokan Copper

Introduction. To date, construction principles applied to stone runs have only been developed in theory, while the extent to which they are tested in practice is limited since the engineering development of sloping stone runs is still rather narrow in scope. This factor leads to the lack of a unified formalized approach to the development of measures intended to reduce the risk of stone run formation when designing structures in areas affected by this process.

Aim. To consider a problem associated with factoring in stone run formation in the design of structures on the example of overhead line towers for Udokan Copper, as well as covering adopted engineering solutions providing a means to localize this process using a specific example.

Materials and Methods. The paper considers a problem associated with factoring in stone run formation in the design of structures on the example of overhead line towers for the Udokan Mining and Metallurgical Plant. Engineering solutions adopted for this facility in order to protect structures by creating buffer zones between the stone run and the structure are presented. In addition, the basis was provided for developing recommendations on structure design for areas prone to hazardous frost action. In order to justify adopted solutions, mathematical modeling was performed using PLAXIS 2D software.

Results. The calculations yielded isofields showing soil base and foundation displacements for a given stone run displacement along the slope. The obtained results indicate that stone run displacements do not affect overhead line tower foundations when a buffer zone is created.

Conclusions. The issue associated with factoring in the impact of hazardous frost action involving stone run formation in the design of structures remains to be explored in practice, requiring further consideration in order to further formalize the methods of engineering protection against stone runs in regulatory documents.

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