The Environmental Legacy of Military Operations

Military geology comprises research and practical efforts directed toward providing geological input for military construction, civil works projects (e.g., dams, navigable waterway maintenance), remediation of polluted military facilities, terrain analysis, sustainability of training lands, mobility prediction, and site characterization activities. Land use sustainability issues, base closures, and heightened levels of environmental awareness by the general public have introduced new challenges for using, maintaining, cleaning, and restoring lands that have served as military installations for decades. In this volume, the legacy of military operations and their impact on the terrain and geology, particularly from an environmental viewpoint, are considered by geologists of diverse lands and backgrounds. This book, a companion volume to Military Geology in War and Peace (Reviews in Engineering Geology, v. 13, 1998), emphasizes current research and applications of engineering geology principles and practice to modern day military problems, many of which are environmental in nature.
Unsurfaced road investigation and management plan, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri
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Published:January 01, 2001
Abstract
Unsurfaced roads, common throughout both private and public sectors, are the source of engineering, economic, and ecological concerns. The U.S. Army currently maintains a large number of unsurfaced roads on its training and testing installations. These road networks must be maintained in a safe and serviceable condition to sustain training and testing requirements. Fort Leonard Wood’s (FLW) road network was examined to identify present problems and future engineer training requirements so that a proper maintenance plan could be recommended. Standard U.S. Army methods were used. A road management system was developed using a dynamic digital database of road conditions linked to the FLW Geographic Information System (GIS). The field data, the extent of road distresses and severity level measurements, were used to determine the unsurfaced road condition index (URCI). A repair budget was estimated for road segments with a URCI value below an established threshold. GIS analyses correlated URCI values to physical and operational conditions. Well-graded soils with a low plastic index were correlated to high URCI values. Operations data were examined to identify types of use, requested maintenance, and the resulting road condition. URCI values were higher for frequently traveled and maintained roads. Continuation of current reductions in maintenance will result in higher repair costs and possible road closures. Road rehabilitation to accommodate future traffic volume and increased vehicle loads will require proper selection of geometric design parameters, aggregate type, gradation, and layer thickness.