Refoundation in permafrost with Mapei solutions

Climate change affects the permafrost
With climate change affecting the permafrost on Svalbard and elsewhere, it is relevant to ensure that the foundations of buildings are good and durable. In Ny-Ålesund, Kings Bay AS has started refunding its buildings. So far, they have completed the refoundation of 4 larger buildings and 1 smaller one, which have given them good experience with using our frost-free chilling mortar NONSET 120 FF in thawing permafrost. So far this year, they have used approximately 20 tonnes of this solution.

- The refoundation helps to ensure that the buildings and cultural heritage have an even longer lifespan in a challenging environment where climate change is well felt, says adviser at Kings Bay AS, Solveig Roti Dahl.

This type of rehabilitation can also be relevant in several places that experience the same challenge that climate change brings with it.

The building known as the "White House" in Ny-Ålesund was recently fully refoundated. This building was the manager's residence from 1918 during the mining period and was subsequently converted into apartments for employees of Kings Bay AS. The house stood on a concrete foundation wall which was in very poor condition, full of cracks and badly in need of an upgrade. "White house" was put on a steel frame and pushed away so that new steel piles could be drilled and the house pushed back when the piles were in place. The steel piles are covered with Nonset 120 FF to ensure the stability of the piles.

In addition to Nonset 120 FF screed mortar, Kings Bay AS has also used the additive IDROCRETE KR 1000 which reduces water penetration in hardened concrete and our proven self-leveling leveling compound UNIPLAN ECO.

Mapei has extensive experience in delivering durable products and solutions for arctic climates. Nonset 120 FF was also used during the construction of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault back in 2007-2008. A project with similar challenges as Kings Bay AS's project in Ny-Ålesund.

In 1926, Roald Amundsen and the Italian aeronautical engineer and adventurer Umberto Nobile came to Ny-Ålesund to try to reach the North Pole by airship, which they succeeded on 12 May the same year.

The airship mast, which is called "Amundsenmasta", at Ny-Ålesund was designed and manufactured in Italy and then transported up there in elements. It was then fully assembled before the expedition could begin. A hangar for airships was also built. When the adventurers arrived in Ny-Ålesund, the weather was so nice that the Italian-built airship "Norge" was taken straight into the hangar.

Climate change has led to the need for the airship mast to be secured and reimbursed. In the past, it has been secured with additional fastening where Nonset 120 FF was used and in further rehabilitation it is planned to use mortar from Mapei.

All the buildings used by Amundsen, Nobile, the crews and the press are about to undergo the same rehabilitation process with refoundation in the permafrost.

Brief history of Ny-Ålesund
- Coal was discovered here as early as 1610 by an English whaler, but the history of Kings Bay and Ny-Ålesund only begins in 1916. It was a businessman from Ålesund who in 1916 bought the rights and the area from the company Green Harbor Coal Co which had operated a small but commercial extraction of coal since 1911. Peter S. Brandal from Ålesund started operations in 1917, and what was known as Brandal City quickly became Ny-Ålesund. In 1929, mining was closed down. The Norwegian state bought all the shares in Kings Bay Kull Comp. A/S in 1933. For a short period there was also an attempt to run a fishing station and hotel operation, from approx. 1936 to the start of the war. When the Second World War broke out, everyone in Ny-Ålesund was evacuated. After the Second World War, the Norwegian state started building a new mining community. It was the tragic mining accident in 1962 that caused mining to be shut down the following year.