Lessons from construction and health condition evaluation of high-grade highway in permafrost regions

Located in the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau, the Gonghe- Yushu high-grade highway was the first of its kind in plateau permafrost regions. Most of the road sections along the high-grade highway are unstable or extremely unstable warm permafrost with an average annual ground temperature above - 1 degrees C, which is vulnerable to global warming and human engineering activities. This paper describes permafrost characteristics, roadbed design, and operation of the Gonghe-Yushu high-grade highway in detail. It is found that thaw settlement of warm and ice-rich permafrost is the main cause of subgrade subsidence in permafrost sections of this highway due to insufficient permafrost survey and drainage design. It is recommended that the interception and drainage system's design be optimized, and the permafrost upper limit and the variation of ground temperature be further investigated to provide essential data for the treatment of highway distress. It should be emphasized that protecting permafrost soil environment and optimized engineering design are crucial to successful high-grade highway engineering in permafrost regions.