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vii, [1], 21, [1],5, [5] pages. Figures. Footnotes. Literature Cited. Name of previous owner on front cover. This work was sponsored by Office, Chief of Engineers U. S. Army and Defense Atomic Support Agency. The contents include Foreword, Summary, Introduction, Site Conditions, Soil Profile [exploratory borings, Laboratory test results', Conditions in the Superseismic Region, Results of Dynamic, Constrained Modulus (Secant) Tests, Selection of a Constrained Modulus-Depth Relation, Airblast-Induced Ground Motion Predictions, Conclusions, and Literature Cited. A. J. Hendron, Jr. was elected to the National Academy of Engineering as a preeminent teacher, practitioner, and contributor to geotechnical aspects of civil engineering at the forefront of the science and art. In this paper the dynamic properties of the soil profile near the location of the Snowball detonation (Suffield Experimental Station, Watching Hill Site, Alberta, Canada) are given which pertain to the prediction of the airblast-induced ground motions in the superseismic region. Predictions based upon the available dynamic properties are given and compared with the ground motions measured by the Waterways Experiment Station. The purposes of this paper are to present the results of dynamic tests which were conducted on undisturbed samples of soil obtained near the location of the Snowball shot, and to show how the soil properties were used to predict peak transient displacements in the superseismic region. A comparison of the computed and observed ground displacements at stations 200 and 250 ft from ground zero (GZ) is given Operation Snowball was a conventional explosive test to obtain information on nuclear weapon detonations run by the Defence Research Board with participation from the United Kingdom and United States. A detonation of 500 short tons (450 t) of TNT was used to study the resulting phenomena. The test was held at the Suffield Experimental Station in Alberta and was the largest ever man-made, non-accidental explosion in Canada. The test was also the first of its kind using a stacked TNT block hemisphere of such magnitude, a method repeated in six subsequent tests such as Operation Sailor Hat and Prairie Flat. The test allowed verifying predicted properties of shock and blast and determining its effect on a variety of military targets at varied distances from ground zero. Suffield Experimental Station is in an isolated part of the rolling prairie terrain of Alberta and at the time of the test was part of a 1,000-square-mile test range. This unique landscape offers clear views due to treelessness and favorable weather conditions. Starting in fall 1963, teams from the involved countries began assembling at the test grounds for the joint operation, one of many in a series of non-nuclear blast tests under the Tripartite Technical Cooperation Program. Initial preparations and construction work began in the winter of 1963 which was unusually mild and proved helpful. Virtually the entire station was mobilized for the effort and unusual equipment was designed and manufactured at the site's engineering and machine shops. The casting of the TNT was performed on site and began two years in advance of the test. Molten TNT was poured into special 12-by-12-by-4-inch rectangular molds and allowed to cool for 5 hours, producing smooth caramel-colored rectangular blocks. A total of 30,678 were made with an average weight of 32.6 pounds each. Construction of the TNT hemisphere began six days before detonation. To protect from dust and sunlight and due to risk of lightning, the construction was not done in the open; instead, a building was constructed at ground zero that was to be wheeled away when the charge was complete. Each block was carefully fitted into a pre-calculated position to approximate a perfect hemisphere. When completed the stack measured 34 feet in diameter. Columns were drilled 80 feet into the ground at the blast site and then back filled with a color.
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