Consolidation characteristics of permafrost foundational soil in Yellow River source along G214

This study conducted indoor consolidation tests on the aging road and natural ground foundational soils from the G214 permafrost section in the Yellow River source area to compare their consolidation characteristics. The results revealed that the consolidation deformation of the aging road foundation soil was significantly lower than that of the natural foundation soil, with a flatter consolidation curve. In the aging road foundation, the 2.5-4.3 m soil layer affected by annual temperature fluctuations exhibited void ratio variations 2.05 times greater than other layers. However, the variation in void ratio in multiple layers of the natural foundation was greater than that in the aging road foundation. The maximum settlement of the aging road foundation originated from the 2.5-4.3 m layer with smaller shallow settlement, while the natural foundation showed dominant shallow settlement followed by the 2.5-7.5 m layer, reaching a total settlement 1.37 times that of the aging road foundation. A layered treatment strategy is recommended: applying techniques adapted from soft foundation treatment to shallow layers while implementing thermal stability protection for permafrost in deeper layers, achieving a coordinated approach between deformation control and permafrost environmental protection.