10th International Symposium on Permafrost Engineering

22-24 August 2014   Harbin, China

The 10th International Symposium on Permafrost Engineering was held in Harbin, China on 22-24 August 2014, under the theme “Challenge and Adaption of Permafrost Engineering to a Changing Climate”. The Symposium was hosted by the Heilongjiang University.

The International Symposiums on Permafrost Engineering (ISPE) are organized by the Melnikov Permafrost Institute, Yakutsk, Russia (MPI), the Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Lanzhou, China (CAREERI), and the Heilongjiang Institute of Cold Region Engineering, Harbin, China (HICRE) to provide a forum for discussion of permafrost engineering issues, as well as for exchange of practical experience in construction and maintenance of infrastructure on frozen ground.

The MPI was represented by a delegation of 21 staff members led by Director, Dr. Mikhail Zhelezniak.

The MPI delegation.

Days one and two started with invited plenary lectures by leading permafrost researchers.

Mikhail Zhelezniak, MPI, Yakutsk – Climate Change Effects on Ground Temperatures in East Siberia.

Jin Huijin, CAREERI, Lanzhou – Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions: A Brief Introduction.

Wang Shuangjie, First Highway Survey and Design Institute, Xian – Pre-study on the Qinghai-Tibetan Expressway in Permafrost Regions.

Richard Fortier, Laval University – Looking for Groundwater as a Potential Source of Drinking Water for Northern Communities in Degrading Permafrost Environments

The program included 5 oral sessions held concurrently, each starting with a keynote presentation.

Session topics included frozen soil mechanics, safety of human activities in cold regions, engineering construction on permafrost,

frost-resistant technology in hydraulic engineering, and permafrost, ice and snow monitoring.

In all, one plenary, two keynote, fifteen oral and two poster papers were presented by the MPI scientists.

Andrei Litovko – A Permafrost Factor in the Development of Deformations on the Amur Highway.

Pavel Zabolotnik – Ground Temperature Dynamics Around and Beneath the Yakutsk Combined Heat and Power Plant Buildings.

Nickolai Torgovkin – Aggressiveness of Seasonally Thawed and Frozen Soils in Yakutsk.

During break between the sessions – Elvira Metliaeva, Georgii Kuzmin, Vladimir Vlasov and Rudolf Vlasov.

All presenters and session chairs received certificates of appreciation – Lilia Prokopieva, Stepan Varlamov, Peter Permyakov and Georgii Kuzmin.

Ivan Vakhrin was named one of the two winners of the Best Young Presenter Award.

Student volunteers from the Heilongjiang University helped with many aspects of the event, spanning from registration to birthday celebration.

The Symposium concluded with a one-day tour of Harbin on 24 August.

Laboratory of New Hydrotechnics.

Heilongjiang University Museum.

Siberian Tiger Park.

Sun Island Park.

Informal discussions were an important part of the Symposium.

Richard Fortier (Laval University) and Satoshi Akagawa (Hokkaido University).

Symposium secretaries Li Huiyu (HICRE) and Olga Alekseeva (MPI).

No event in China would be complete without delicious local cuisine.

At the banquet: Dr. Sergey Kudryavtsev (Far Eastern State Transport University, Khabarovsk), Mrs. Kondratiev, Dr. Valentin Kondratiev (Transbaikal State University, Chita), Daniel Nichols (DOWL HKM, Anchorage) and Mrs. Nichols.

Dr. Albert Duchkov (Trofimuk Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics, Novosibirsk) celebrated his birthday with Chinese birthday noodles representing long life.

After the Symposium, the MPI delegation visited the Heilongjiang Institute of Cold Region Engineering (HICRE) and the Heilongjiang University, which resulted in signing of bilateral MOUs on scientific cooperation.

Zhu Weizhong, HICRE Director and Mikhail Zhelezniak, MPI Director shaking hands after signing the MoU.

Group photo in front of the HICRE building.

The Heilongjiang University is a key comprehensive university with multiple disciplines covering arts, science, foreign languages, engineering and management, etc.

Signing the MoU, Dr. He Ying, President of the Heilongjiang University and Dr. Zhelezniak.

By invitation of Prof. Wei Ma, Dr. Mikhail Zhelezniak and Lilia Prokopieva, International Relations Officer, visited the CAREERI Institute in Lanzhou to discuss opportunities for further collaboration. The parties agreed to explore the possibility for joint projects and to conclude a MOU within a month.

Lanzhou is surrounded by hills of the Loess Plateau.

Dr. Niu Fujun showing soil testing facilities at SKLFSE.

Discussion at CAREERI.

The CAREERI Exhibit Room displays an imposing model of the Qinghai – Tibet Railway and Highway.

Since the first meeting in Chita in 1993, the International Symposiums on Permafrost Engineering have been held once every two or three years alternately in Russia and China. The Melnikov Permafrost Institute will host the next, 11th symposium in 2017 at its North-Eastern Permafrost Station in Magadan.