Engineering-geological survey in the permafrost regions

Engineering-geological and geocryological investigations carried out to help in the design of various structures are termed engineering-geological surveys. The first practical work in the world on the problem of geocryological investigations for construction purposes was that by V.N. Yanovskiy, Methods of investigation of permafrost for engineering construction purposes, published in the 1950s in which experience in the development of the European North and Siberia in the 1930s and 1940s was outlined. At the present time engineering-geological surveys are standardized. The basic document on the problems of surveys in the region of unfrozen as well as perennially frozen ground is the Building Code and Regulations (SNiP) 1.02.07-87 ‘ Engineering surveys for construction purposes’.

According to the Building Code 1.02.07-87 the main problem for engineering- geological surveys is the integrated study of the engineering-geological conditions within the locality where construction is planned. This includes the topographical, geomorphological, seismic and hydrogeological conditions, geological structures, composition, state and properties of the soil, geological processes and phenomena and changes in conditions following construction, in order to get necessary and sufficient information to justify structural designs taking into consideration the harmonious exploitation and protection of the geological environment, as well as to make forecasts concerning changes in the engineering-geological conditions in the course of construction and operation of enterprises, buildings and structures. The engineering-geological survey is closely associated with and precedes the design of the particular structures. This dictates the specific study of the engineering-geological conditions of the locality selected for construction purposes.