Experimentation of several mitigation methods in Tasiujaq Airport to minimize the effects caused by the melting of permafrost

Since the beginning of the 1990s an important increase in the mean annual air temperatures has been recorded in Nunavik, Québec, Canada. This has lead to the degradation of permafrost, which is threatening the stability of airport and road embankments in the region. In the summer of 2007 a test-site was established at Tasiujaq Airport to study the effect of three different mitigations methods: heat drain, air convection embankment, and gentle slope (8:1).

The methods were constructed in the shoulder of the runway embankment, each method over a distance of 50 m. In each section thermistors were installed to study the annual variations of the thermal regime inside the different embankments. After one year of monitoring, interesting cooling trends have been observed in the different test-sections and a substantially reduced maximum thaw depth have been registered during the thawing season.