WORKING GROUP 9 
RADFORTH 
513 
gineering survey or proceeding with design would be impractical, wasteful 
and probably disastrous. The importance of detecting Air-form attributes at 
the interpreted level may be appreciated best with the help of an example, 
- construction of a service road to bear 20 ton loads. The right-of-way, follow 
ing appropriate study, must pass through organic terrain designated by three 
Air-form Patterns, from Dermatoid to Stipploid to Marbloid. Examination 
of terrain factor effect and experience would suggest that for the Dermatoid, 
design would require no excavation of overburden, the entire embankment 
would be high to avoid high water table, location should follow tones relatively 
dark, off-take ditching directed to light tones should be practiced and it would 
be necessary to corduroy. For Stipploid (tree-tall shrub cover), excavation 
should be practiced for construction of embankment and cut-fill operation is 
applicable; lateral ditches with off-takes to dissecting tail-shrub clearings are 
prescribed; location should avoid sides of slope and culverts should be inserted 
to assist run off and lessen effect of spring flooding at tail-shrub clearings. 
For Marbloid, locate on plateaus, do not excavate or even disturb cover to 
preserve ice; use interrupted lateral ditching well out from right-of-way, then 
off-takes to edges of plateaus; avoid polygonal topography and never back 
fill with peat. 
Acknowledgement 
The Defence Research Board (Geophysics) and the National Research 
Council (Associate Committee of Soil and Snow Mechanics) have assisted the 
author financially as this work has developed and the author gratefully 
acknowledges this help. 
Bibliography 
1. Radforth, N. W. (1952). Suggested Classification of Muskeg for the Engineer. Engineer 
ing Journal, 1199-1210. 
2. Radforth, N. W. (1955). Range of Structural Variation in Organic Terrain. Trans. 
Roy, Soc. Canada. Series III, 49, Sec. V, Vol. XLIX, 51-67. 
3. Radforth, N. W. (1956). The Application of Aerial Survey over Organic Terrain. Roads 
and Engineering Construction Magazine. N.R.C., Ottawa. 
4. Radforth, N. W. & Eydt, H. R. (1958a). Botanical Derivatives Contributing to the 
Structure of Major Peat Types. Can. J. Bot. 36, 153. 
5. MacFarlane, I. C. (1958b). Guide to a Field Description of Muskeg. Tech. Mem. 44 
(Revised), N.R.C., Ottawa. 
6. Radforth, N. W. & Suguitan, L. S. (1959). Definitive Microfossils Pertinent to Physio 
graphic Difference in Muskeg. Trans. Roy. Soc. Canada. Series III, Sec. V., Vol. LIII, 
35-41. 
7. Radforth, N. W. (1961a). Organic Terrain. 
8. Radforth, N. W. (1961b). Land Factors and Vehicle Design in Operations on Organic 
Terrain. 1st. Int. Conf. on the Mechanics of Soil-Vehicle Systems, Turin, Italy.