In order to study the mechanics characters of the warm and ice-rich permafrost beneath the embankment of Qinghai-Tibet Railway

a series of pressiometer tests were conducted in the Beiluhe test site of Qinghai-Tibet Railway. The tests results indicate that: the temperature of the permafrost beneath the embankment gets higher; unfrozen water of the permafrost increases; the critical plastic load Pf descends 31 %; the ultimate load Pl descends 44 % and the shear modulus Gm descends 80 % because of the embankment. For warm permafrost

the sensitivities of shear modulus Gm to the temperature of both ice-saturated and ice-rich permafrost are higher than that of ice with soil inclusions; the sensitivities of the critical plastic load Pf and the ultimate load Pl to the temperature of ice-saturated permafrost are higher than that of ice-rich permafrost and ice layer with soil inclusions.