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There is evidence that extreme ice loads combined with moderately high winds may cause catastrophic damage to overhead power lines and prolonged periods of electrical power outage. In this paper, a probabilistic model for combined wind and ice loads was developed for establishing realistic and conservative criteria for design and normalization. The proposed model combines icing of extreme thickness with a moderate wind speed, Vice, reduced by a reduction factor, kr, with respect to the extreme wind speed, Vmax. The evaluation of kr, which is the main purpose of this paper, is done by means of statistical analysis of samples taken from the same initial distribution of hourly wind speeds, Vh. The size of samples corresponds to the average annual icing persistency period, Tipp, observed in the climatic conditions of Quebec. This period, which was established in an earlier study by the authors using statistical analysis of data from the Hydro-Québec passive ice meter (PIM) network, is evaluated to be on average 144 h/year. It was found that kr ranges from 0.4 to 0.7, mainly as a function of the coefficient of variation (COV) of the initial distribution of wind speeds and the return period prescribed for extreme climatic loads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this paper is to describe the characteristics of brash ice in the St. Lawrence River downstream of Montréal over a period of three winters. We used two instruments deployed in the St. Lawrence River navigation channel through Lake St. Pierre to measure ice parameters: an acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) and an ice-profiling sonar (IPS). This paper discusses the capacities of these instruments to quantify ice characteristics and to predict the risk of ice congestion. It was found that wind velocity and air temperature play major roles in the variation in ice parameters and, consequently, in the occurrence of ice congestion in the navigation channel through Lake St. Pierre. Comparison of the IPS and ADCP data showed good agreement and demonstrated that these two instruments can be very effective for certain ice applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The seismic attenuation in concrete has seldom been studied, although it is an important parameter for survey design. In this paper, the seismic Q factor is estimated from data measured at the Carillon dam. Three methods were used for this study: amplitude decay yielding a value of 5.1 ± 1.6, spectral ratio giving a value of 8.3 ± 3.5, and a value of 7.5 ± 14.9 was obtained from the rise-time technique. These values are weak compared with what is generally observed in rocks, and slightly lower than values obtained on laboratory concrete samples. However, the average P wave velocity measured on the investigated area is 4081 ± 95 m·s[sup –1] , an indication of the good quality of the material. Consequently, this strong attenuation could be attributed on one hand to energy loss, and on the other hand to scattering caused by the intrinsic cement–aggregate composition of concrete. It is also possible that an inadequate sensor coupling had the effect of reducing the observed Q value. Key words: seismic attenuation, concrete dams, microseismic monitoring, coupling.Paramètre important pour la planification de levés sismiques, l'atténuation sismique a été peu étudiée dans les bétons. Dans cet article, le facteur de qualité sismique Q est évalué au barrage de Carillon selon les méthodes du rapport des amplitudes, du rapport des spectres d'amplitude et du temps de montée. Les mesures obtenues sont respectivement de 5,1 ± 1,6, de 8,3 ± 3,5 et de 7,5 ± 14,9. Ces valeurs sont faibles en regard de ce qui est généralement observé dans les roches, et légèrement plus faibles que des valeurs mesurées sur des bétons en laboratoire. Par ailleurs, le béton de la partie du barrage auscultée présente une vitesse d'onde P moyenne de 4081 ± 95 m·s[sup –1] , indiquant une bonne qualité du matériau. En conséquence, la forte atténuation pourrait être attribuable d'une part à la perte de l'énergie sismique sous forme de friction, et d'autre part à une atténuation de diffusion occasionnée par la composition ciment-granulat intrinsèque du béton. Il est également possible qu'un couplage inadéquat des capteurs ait pour effet de réduire la valeur observée de Q. Mots clés : atténuation sismique, barrages en béton, auscultation microsismique, couplage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]