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Characteristics of snow cover distribution along railway subgrade and the protective effect of snow fences

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Abstract

Railways built in cold, snowy, and lightly populated areas are subjected to wind and snow disasters. In this study, we selected a snow hazard prevention and control section of the Altay–Zhundong Railway in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China as the research object. We investigated the deposited snowfall variation characteristics on the two sides and in the embankment pavement area of snow fences with different porosities, fence heights, and arrangement distances using single-factor tests and orthogonal tests based on global atmospheric reanalysis climate data, field survey data, and a multi-phase flow analysis model. The results showed significant differences in the characteristics of snow cover distribution and snow cover thickness between the embankment and the cutting in the absence of snow protection measures. The maximum snow cover thickness of the embankment pavement decreased by 12.6% relative to the cutting pavement. The snow cover thickness of the embankment exhibited an increasing trend from windward shoulder to leeward shoulder, whereas the snow cover thickness of the cutting presented a declining trend from windward shoulder to leeward toe. In the collaborative prevention and control of snow fences and embankments, the three factors can be ranked in terms of their sensitivity to deposited snowfall within the influence scope of snow fences as follows: fence height>arrangement distance>porosity. At the same time, fence height yielded a significant relationship for the influence scope of snow fences (P<0.05). The three factors can also be ranked in terms of their sensitivity to deposited snowfall on the pavement as follows: porosity>fence height>arrangement distance. For the embankment protection of the Altay–Zhundong Railway against wind and snow, snow fence with a porosity of 75%, a fence height of 4.8 m, and an arrangement distance from the embankment of 60 m produced the best snow control effect. By revealing the characteristics of snow cover distribution along railway subgrade and the protective effect of snow fences, this study provides valuable references for the engineering applications of railway construction in areas prone to wind and snow disasters.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52168065). The authors also thank the anonymous reviewers and the editor who helped improve this paper’s quality.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Water Conservancy & Architectural Engineering, Shihezi University, Shihezi, 832003, China

    Jia Lei, Jianjun Cheng, Li Gao, Benteng Ma, Yuanfeng An & Hongguang Dong

Authors
  1. Jia Lei
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  2. Jianjun Cheng
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  3. Li Gao
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  4. Benteng Ma
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  5. Yuanfeng An
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  6. Hongguang Dong
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Contributions

Conceptualization: LEI Jia, CHENG Jianjun, GAO Li; Data curation: LEI Jia, CHENG Jianjun, MA Benteng; Methodology: LEI Jia; Investigation: LEI Jia, CHENG Jianjun; Formal analysis: LEI Jia; Writing - original draft preparation: LEI Jia; Writing - review and editing: LEI Jia; Funding acquisition: LEI Jia, CHENG Jianjun; Resources: LEI Jia, CHENG Jianjun; Supervision: LEI Jia, CHENG Jianjun, GAO Li; Project administration: LEI Jia, CHENG Jianjun; Software: LEI Jia, CHENG Jianjun, AN Yuanfeng; Validation: LEI Jia, CHENG Jianjun, AN Yuanfeng; Visualization: LEI Jia, AN Yuanfeng, DONG Hongguang.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jianjun Cheng.

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The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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Lei, J., Cheng, J., Gao, L. et al. Characteristics of snow cover distribution along railway subgrade and the protective effect of snow fences. J. Arid Land 15, 901–919 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40333-023-0105-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40333-023-0105-5

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