Safety Requirements for Snow Load on Unique Transport Infrastructure Facilities

Introduction: Wind-induced snow drift is the main reason behind the non-uniform snow load on a snow-covered area. As known, snow load poses a serious hazard to the roofing of buildings and structures. According to the applicable regulatory documents, snow loads for non-standard roofs must be determined based on the results of model tests in wind tunnels. Purpose of the study: We aimed to study snow load on a unique transport infrastructure facility — the world’s first crossborder cable car connecting Blagoveshchensk in Russia to Heihe in China. Methods: We performed model tests to study snow accumulation and drifting with the use of a unique research setup — the Large Gradient Wind Tunnel, courtesy of the National Research Moscow State University of Civil Engineering. Results: Based on climate analysis and tests under different wind attack angles, we obtained distribution patterns for snow deposits on the roofing of the unique transport infrastructure facility under consideration and derived the values of the coefficient μ (the coefficient of transition from the weight of the snow cover on the ground to the snow load on roofing).