Project ESSEX I. Phase 1, Mobility Experiments.

Project ESSEX I, Phase 1, consisted of the detonation of three 11,249-kilogram 12.4-ton charges and on 8,981-kilogram 9.9-ton charge of gelled nitro-methane at different depths of burial and stemming conditions at the Peason Ridge Artillery Range of Fort Polk, Louisiana, at intermittent periods from 23 August to 31 October 1973. Mobility experiments were conducted to determine the degree to which the craters and their associated ejecta fields constitute a physical barrier to the movement of military vehicles. Four terrain units in each crater and ejecta area were delineated as significant to ground mobility and described in terms of soil strength, soil moisture content, surface configuration, ejecta depth, and areal extent.