The study of ice runways has significant practical importance. Regarding inland lake ice, while little of the practicality of ice runways during the ice formation period was explored in the published articles, the analysis of the time period and suitable locations may be used. This study focused on Huhenuoer Lake, located in Chen Barag Banner in northeastern China. The time-dependent law of ice growth in this lake has been investigated over a study period from 2023 to 2024. Utilizing the drilling approach, the ice thickness, recorded at each site on 29 February 2024, has surpassed 100 cm. On 14 March 2024, the recorded ice thickness at site #2 reached a record high of 139 cm. Second, to assess the project’s ease of use and safety, we used the Stefan equation to model the lake’s ice growth processes, resulting in a fitted Stefan coefficient of 2.202. For safety considerations, the Stefan coefficient used for the construction of the ice runway was set at 1.870. We investigated the distribution of lake ice and concluded that the lake ice runway should be established in the north. We established the relationship between ice thickness, cumulative snowfall, and negative accumulated temperature by integrating the fitting technique with the Stefan model. Utilizing the P-III method, the minimum value of the maximum negative accumulated temperature for the 50-year return period is 2092.46 °C·d, while the maximum cumulative snowfall for the 50-year period is 58.4 mm. We can apply these values to the aforementioned relationship to derive the ice thickness patterns across varying return periods. Finally, the study provides recommendations for the construction of the ice runway at Huhenuoer Lake. This study introduces ice field research and an ice growth model into the analysis of lake ice runway operations to provide technical assistance for ice runways.

Seasonal lake-ice runways provide low-carbon winter infrastructure for cold-region logistics, yet direct links between ice flexural mechanics and runway design remain scarce. To address this gap, we investigated seasonal ice from Huhenuoer Lake and proposed a mechanics-based methodology for determining key design parameters. On 14 March 2024, an ice block was hoisted and tested in a cold laboratory after several days. Full-depth investigation revealed that throughout the entire-depth range, the ice consists exclusively of columnar ice with a mean density of 0.89 g/cm³ and a mean grain size of 15.88 mm. Subsequently, four-point bending tests gave an average effective flexural elastic modulus of 3.31 GPa and flexural strength of 2813 kPa. Furthermore, statistical analysis showed both properties decrease with temperature and are lower in higher-porosity specimens. Based on these results, we established a systematic procedure to derive design flexural strength, effective flexural elastic modulus, and ice thickness. When applied to the potential Huhenuoer Lake-ice runway, this method yields values of 2800 kPa, 3.24 GPa, and 30 cm for the An-2 (design flexural strength, design effective flexural elastic modulus, and design ice thickness, respectively); the same method can be used to obtain the corresponding values for other aircraft. As lake ice is locally sourced, recyclable, and temporary, it can serve as a low-carbon material for construction purposes.