A snow road is a type of

winter road A winter road is a seasonal road only usable during the winter, i.e. it has to be re-built every year. This road typically runs over land and over frozen lakes, rivers, swamps, and sea ice.Proskin et al, 2011. Guidelines for the Construction an ...

, which is a road that is used or trafficable only in the winter.Adam 1978Abele 1990Proskin et al. 2011 Snow roads make up some or all of the on-land segments of a winter road. The snow is either compacted in place or, when there is not enough of it, is hauled from elsewhere, then compacted. The snow may be processed, for instance, by agitation to reduce the size of the particles before compaction.Lang et al 1997 Additional snow is also used to help protect the vegetation and as a means of improving trafficability. This snow, sometimes referred to as 'snow pavement', can be compacted to various level, depending on requirements and available equipment – a higher compaction will accommodate heavier vehicles and higher tire pressures.Russell-Head et al 1984 To increase the road's load capacity and its resistance to wear, water can be added onto the snow surface, resulting in a denser pavement and the formation of an ice cap. Ultimately, with a sufficient amount of flooding, an ice layer of significant thickness can be built, for a higher quality road in terms of effectiveness and load bearing capacity. Ice aggregate, typically collected from a nearby frozen lake, is also used on uneven terrain - it is flooded and allowed to freeze.

History

Before the predominance of automobiles, some

snowbelt The Snowbelt is the region near the Great Lakes in North America where heavy snowfall in the form of lake-effect snow is particularly common. Snowbelts are typically found downwind of the lakes, principally off the eastern and southern shores. Ca ...

towns compacted snow-covered primary roads to facilitate horse-drawn sleigh traffic. This was accomplished by pulling logs or large, heavy drums (called snow rollers) over new-fallen snow by a team of draft animals. White Mountain snow rollers
at MWVvibe.com

References

Bibliography

*Abele, G., 1990. Snow roads and runways, U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Monograph 90-3, Washington, D.C. *Adam, K.M., 1978. Building and operating winter roads in Canada and Alaska, Indian and Northern Affairs (INAC), Ottawa. *Lang, R.M., Blaisdell, G.L., D'Urso, C., Reinemer, G. and Lesher, M., 1997. Processing snow for high strength roads and runways, Cold Regions Science and Technology, 25: 17-31. *Proskin, S., Groznic, E., Hayley, D., Mathison, F., McGregor, R. and Neth, V., 2011. Guidelines for the Construction and Operation of Winter Roads, Transportation Association of Canada. *Russell-Head, D.S., Budd, W.F. and Moore, P.J., 1984. Compacted snow as a pavement material for runway construction. Cold Regions Science and Technology, 9: 231-247. {{Road types Ice roads Types of roads Ice in transportation

History

See also

References

Bibliography