Traversing grounded rubble fields by foot — Implications for evacuation

A field program was carried out in the Canadian Beaufort Sea to obtain quantitative details of the time required to traverse a variety of ice rubble conditions, typical of those that may surround an offshore structure in landfast ice. The results indicate that the time required to cross rubble fields increases rapidly with increasing rubble severity, determined by factors such as rubble height, ice block size and snow depth. The quantitative findings have implications for emergency evacuation from an offshore structure when an on-ice Evacuation Shelter is identified in the EER strategy for the structure. The results and analysis show that preparing and maintaining a suitable egress path across ice rubble is essential for safe evacuation from an offshore structure surrounded by landfast ice and a grounded rubble field. The implications for an offshore structure in a variety of ice conditions are presented.