Monitoring infrastructure built on permafrost and geocryology of operating area of Nornickel’s Polar Division

In the Norilsk industrial region, the revealed general rise in the average air temperature reaches 0.6 °C within the decade. This leads to degradation of permafrost and poses threat of accidents to the available infrastructure in the region. Negligence in this respect leads to worse safety of operation of buildings and structures, brings high economic costs connected with reconstruction, and menaces the sustainable development in the operating area of the Company. Aimed to handle the problem, from 2020 and to date, Nornickel puts a wide range of effort to maintenance of safe operation of buildings and structures built on permafrost. An innovative system of technical monitoring of buildings and structures is developed and introduced. The technical monitoring system used both conventional techniques (visual inspection, instrumental measurements) and automated technologies, with data flow in real time to a united information and diagnosis system. This allowed minimization of risks connected with accidents due to thawing of permafrost under foundations. Using the monitoring data on climate changes in the region, the mathematical models were developed for some Company’s facilities. The models enable advanced assessment of foundation ground stability and early engineering precautions toward foundation safety. Furthermore, jointly with the Polar State University, a concept is developed for the baselinepermafrost  monitoring, with making of deep thermometric holes and with restoration of historic wells. Greenhouse gas emission was determined within different landscape areas. The estimate of influence of climate on thermal conditions of permafrost used the actual monitoring data and the mathematical modeling results.