Most Store Norske homes stand on ageing timber piles

Most of Store Norske's homes in Longyearbyen stand on timber piles in permafrost. Several are empty because their foundations are no longer safe, chief executive Rune Midtgaard said in a report by the magazine Forsvarets forum published on 14 November. The company owns 515 homes, most of them let to other businesses.

The piles normally have a design life of about 30 years, while the homes are close to 40 years old on average, Midtgaard said. Thawing permafrost brings horizontal ground pressure and movement, which together with more moisture makes the piles break. Homes can be jacked up and braced, but at some point that option is used up.

The company has looked at steel piles set in bedrock, but some areas are protected and the ground does not suit every site. At Elvesletta Nord it is 36 m down to bedrock, which Midtgaard called too far. Without action, Longyearbyen could end up without capacity for 2,500 people, he said, and the challenge is to keep housing capacity rather than to limit growth.

The runway at Svalbard Airport also shows wear. It has been kept up with quick fixes in recent years, airport manager Ragnhild Kommisrud told the magazine. In places there is almost 80 cm of asphalt, she believes, and the runway was last resurfaced in 2006. An attempt to paint it white, to cut the heat from the sun and slow the thaw of permafrost below, made it more slippery and was dropped.

A concept study of the airport's needs began in March and is due in February. Kommisrud hopes it will show what happens next, and expects a proper overhaul to be neither cheap nor easy.

Coverage: Forsvaretsforum