Activities for the development of railway lines on degrading permafrost bases of the Eastern polygon of Russian Railways

This article examines the design and construction of railway lines on degrading permafrost soils. Problems arising from the thawing of permafrost foundations of railway embankments lead to a loss of roadbed stability, defects, and track deformations.

The Far East remains one of the most significant and strategically important regions of the Russian Federation, boasting abundant natural resources, but their development requires infrastructure development. The Far East has become a key destination for major export and import flows along the Eastern Polygon of Russian Railways.

This article examines thermal modeling of the cross-section of a railway embankment in the Eastern Polygon of Russian Railways, including the development of measures to stabilize the degradation of the permafrost foundation soils. Thermal modeling allows one to assess the condition of the existing structure with and without measures to stabilize the permafrost boundary, as well as to predict the future behavior of permafrost. The purpose of this article is to substantiate a set of measures for the design and construction of railway lines to prevent deformation of the embankment bed on degrading permafrost soils under conditions of increasing freight traffic and global temperature rise. Problems arising from increased loads and thawing of permafrost soils at the foundations of railway embankments lead to a loss of roadbed stability, defects, and deformations in the track. Currently, stabilizing the temperature regime of thawing permafrost soils at the foundations of railway embankments is a pressing issue.

This paper examines options for stabilizing the temperature regime of permafrost soils at the embankment base of the Eastern Polygon of Russian Railways using numerical modeling. Thermal calculations allow us to assess the condition of the existing structure with and without measures to stabilize the permafrost boundary, as well as to predict the future behavior of permafrost.

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