GeoMontreal

Tuesday, September 17 – Canadian Geotechnical Colloquium

Meeting the challenge of geotechnical transportation infrastructure on degrading permafrost

Ryley Beddoe

Abstract

As permafrost in the Canadian Arctic undergoes climate driven degradation and changes, the stress and impact it will have on current and future linear infrastructure networks will be significant. Now more than ever, it is critical to work towards an understanding of not only why but also how. How will we learn from today to plan and design adaptation and mitigation techniques for resilient infrastructure in the future? How can we develop models that will allow us to ‘dig deeper’ in our understanding? In her current research in this field, Dr. Riley Beddoe is exploring questions like these, including: How can numerical modelling techniques allow us to predict future infrastructure risk? What adaptation techniques will limit the impact of permafrost degradation for infrastructure networks? How do these techniques change if the network is a railway? An ice road? A highway? In this presentation, Dr. Beddoe will present her and her team’s most recent research results aimed at answering these, and other related arctic geotechnical engineering questions.