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2. Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC)
3. Cold Regions Research Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) - (2/1/1961 - present)
4. CRREL Technical Report

Title:	Production analysis of cut-and-cover trench construction
Authors:	Abele, Gunars.
Keywords:	Ice excavation Snow excavation Excavation Building Construction Snow Ice Snow trench Snow trenches Snow tunnels Trenching
Publisher:	Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (U.S.) Engineer Research and Development Center (U.S.)
Series/Report no.:	Technical report (Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (U.S.)) ; 126.
Description:	Technical Report Summary: During the 1961 and 1962 summer test seasons at Camp Century, Greenland, a 1600-ft long trench containing horizontal curves was constructed. A total of 105 hr 45 min of Peter-plow machine time was required for the cutting operation. Of this, 64hr 45 min were spent in actual cutting, which gives a rate of 24.7 ft of trench per hr, or 300 ft (24 ft deep, 18 ft wide at bottom) per 20 hr workday (using one Peter plow at the rate of 12.2 cutting hr/day). By utilizing an almost continuous operation (18 cutting hr/day), the production may be increased to 445 it/day for each plow used. The maximum (24 cutting hr/day) would give approximately 600 ft of trench per day per plow. (This, however, cannot be considered a realistic estimate.) The overall cutting production, including spoil cuts, was 466 yd^3/hr or 166 tons/hr of snow excavated. The trench-cut average was 359 yd^3/hr or 134 tons /hr. The trench-covering operation required an additional 16 Peter-plow-hr and a total of 290 man-hr for the arch installation, a rate of 5.5 ft of roof per man-hr, or, using a five-man crew, a rate of approximately 27.5 ft/hr. The arch removing required approximately 27% of the installation time. Fuel (diesel oil) consumption was at a rate of 14.9 tons of snow excavated per gallon of fuel, or approximately 2.2 ft of trench per gallon. The trench-floor processing (400-ft length) required 2and 1/2 hr, a rate of 160 ft of floor per hr, and the leveling (1600-ft length) required 4 hr, a rate of 400 ft/hr. A total of 176 man-hr was required to install the electrical system and exhaust fans. The production factor for cutting a straight trench was between 1.3 and 1.4 times that of a curved trench. Data obtained by Minsk (1958, 1961) on a similar study are also shown in this report.
Rights:	Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
URI:	http://hdl.handle.net/11681/5631
Appears in Collections:	CRREL Technical Report