Windblown sand characteristics and hazard control measures for the Lanzhou–Wulumuqi high-speed railway

The Lanzhou–Wulumuqi high-speed railway is the first high-speed railway in China which extends through vast strong wind areas in Gobi Desert. To ensure the safety of train operation, measures to control windblown sand-related hazards were adopted. This paper presents a study on the characteristics of windblown sand related to the gale activities, the grain size distribution of wind-sand flow, and the wind-sand flow concentration, followed by introducing the corresponding measures adopted to control and mitigate the hazards caused by the windblown sand. The details of monitoring programs were also discussed, and monitoring data after completion of the project were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the measures. The four-year monitoring data revealed that most grains of sand can be intercepted by sand control measures on the upwind side of the railway, whereas insignificant grains of sand would inevitably still deposit on the railway. One-year field monitoring data show the control measures are very effective, and the average thickness of aeolian sand on the railway was reduced to 2.3 cm when using the control measures from 6.6 cm without taking any measures.