CETN-III-17
Revised 11/84
PLASTIC PILING JACKET FOR ICE PROTECTION
PURPOSE:
To present a method for protecting piling against ice forces.
GENERAL:
Timber piling can suffer severely from ice damage. As ice forms on
the water s surface, it adheres to the rough surface of the timber piling and
forms an ice collar. As more ice forms and thickens and the water level
changes due to tides, the ice tries to float up and down, exerting an uplift
force on the piling. When the action is repeated, the piling is lifted higher
If the piling
(or "jacked") and may be completely loosened from the bottom.
is not lifted the first season, the chafing action of the ice makes the piling
more susceptible to uplift in successive
seasons.
Several cycles of freezing and
jacking have lifted the mooring pile
pictured here 5 ft (see Figure -1).
At times bubbler systems or propellers
have been used to control ice formation
on the piling, while at other times the ice
has been chopped away as it forms. One
alternative is to do nothing and redrive
the piling in the spring.
This CETN describes another alter-
native to solve the ice problem which is
wrapping a plastic jacket around the
piling.
The jacket, composed of patented
carbon black impregnated polyethylene,
is designed to fit standard piling
Figure 1. Pile Being Lifted
with a simple wrap-around, nail-in
By Ice Freezing and Jacking
U. S Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, Coastal Engineering Research Center
.
P. 0. Box 631, Vicksburg, Mississippi 39180
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