Evaluating Snow Pavement Strength in Remote Cold Environments via California Bearing Ratio (CBR) and Russian Snow Penetrometer (RSP) Combined Testing

Accurate assessment of compacted snow strength is critical for ensuring the safety and performance of snow runways in cold environments. The Russian Snow Penetrometer (RSP) is widely used in snow science and engineering due to its simplicity, portability, and capability for rapid field measurements under extreme conditions. Conversely, the California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test remains the benchmark for evaluating load-bearing capacity of conventional granular materials but is seldom applied to snow because of logistical constraints and the material’s complex mechanical behavior. To address this gap, this study presents side-by-side field measurements of snow pavement strength using RSP and CBR over a 30-hr period at two test section locations. Both methods captured temporal strength increases and spatial variability, with consistently higher values at the second site attributed to extended sintering. A moderate linear correlation (R² = 0.44) between RSP and CBR results confirms RSP’s potential as a proxy for load-bearing capacity in snow-covered terrains. These findings contribute to bridging the gap between traditional pavement testing and snow-specific methods, advancing the development of robust, rapid assessment tools for snow runway design and safety. Ongoing work aims to expand the dataset of paired RSP and CBR measurements to refine this relationship and establish a reliable conversion framework for operational use.