Kings Bay re-founds the Harland Cox building on steel piles

Ny-Ålesund has many preserved historic buildings, mainly from 1912 up to the 1960s, that are still in full use. In the periods when most of the buildings were erected, timber piles were a common foundation method. Because of increased thawing of the permafrost and a thicker active layer, timber piles no longer work as a stable foundation. Repeated thawing and freezing of the active layer causes frost heave, in which the piles are gradually pushed up and become unstable. At the same time, a warmer climate increases the risk of rot and of new types of fungus that weaken the wood.

Nearly all the buildings in Ny-Ålesund therefore need a new and stable foundation in the coming years, an extensive and costly process. As more buildings have been re-founded, however, Kings Bay's experienced staff have made the process steadily more efficient.

This time one of Kings Bay's newer buildings is next, Harland Cox, a building erected in 1991 to house the British Arctic research institute (NERC), which had a temporary summer base in Ny-Ålesund from 1965 to 1991. The building is named after the first two heads of the institute: Walter Brian Harland, who first visited Svalbard in 1938, and his successor Nick Cox, who took over as head of the institute in 1991.

The building was originally founded on 48 timber piles, three metres into the ground and fixed to glulam beams under the house. As the permafrost thaws, the ground becomes unstable and the piles lose their load-bearing capacity.

Harland Cox is to be re-founded. Photo: Solveig Roti Dahl.

Re-founding at 79° north, in a protected natural and cultural environment, is a complex task. It is made no easier by the fact that the building remains in use for both research and housing throughout the process.

Materials and equipment must be ordered from the mainland and shipped by boat, which arrives only every sixth week. Applications must be submitted and approved before the work can start, and tasks must be carefully coordinated. When everything is ready, the construction phase itself can begin.

There is a lot to be delivered every 6 to 9 weeks at 79 degrees north. Photo: Solveig Roti Dal

The site is cleared, cables and pipes are moved and extended, stairs and railings are dismantled, and the building is jacked up. Four steel beams, each 36 metres long, are mounted under the building, supported by timber towers placed three metres apart. This forms a temporary support for the structure. More than 100 such timber towers, built from 6×6 inch pieces, must be constructed and adapted along the way in the re-founding process. Together they make up enough timber to fill an entire 20-foot container. Now that the building has been lifted and rests on its temporary foundation, the original glulam beams can be removed and reused in other projects.

More than 100 such timber towers must be built up and taken down during the re-founding. Photo: Julie Trømborg

Now the process of installing the permanent steel frame under the house, where the original glulam beams once stood, starts. At the same time, preparations are made to pull the building, which weighs more than 100 tonnes, onto the neighbouring plot so that the new steel piles can be drilled down. On the neighbouring plot a new temporary foundation is built, onto which the house is slowly but surely pulled by means of a chain hoist and pure muscle power, with H-beams as a base.

Drilling and piling can soon begin. The house is secured in its temporary position, the permanent plot is cleared of steel and timber towers, the 48 timber piles are removed, and the holes are filled with a mixture of sand and water. 38 steel piles, each with a diameter of 170 mm, are drilled 3 m into bedrock, where they are grouted fast into rock and steel tube. The depth down to bedrock varies, so each steel beam must be adapted.

In total, around 60 tonnes of steel go into the steel piles and the permanent frame.

When the piles are in place, the building can be carefully pulled back and the permanent frame welded to the steel piles. The areas are then cleared, any misalignments that have arisen during the move are corrected, stairs are mounted, cables and pipes are adapted, and the timber towers are packed back into the container.

Most of the work takes place under the building, with little room to move for Martin Toresen, Jon Toresen and Byrge Sæther, but the mood is good.

After a couple of months, mostly crawling or lying under the building in all kinds of weather, this crew has finished re-founding a building of more than 100 tonnes. Kings Bay is impressed.

Front row: Jon Toresen, Trond Nasvik, Tor-Inge Tøftvang, Ida Kristoffersen, Solveig Roti Dahl. Back row: Tormod Eknes, Heine Milde Nævdal, Byrge Sæther and Martin Toresen.

The royal couple visiting Ny-Ålesund in 1995 in connection with the 70th anniversary. Photo: Rune Petter Ness