Revising the Arctic and Subarctic Design and Construction Guidelines

Design and Construction

By Samara Miller, P.E., M.SAME, Kevin Bjella, P.E., Wendy Wieder, Ph.D., P.E., Rosa Affleck, Ph.D., and Wade Lein, Ph.D., P.E.

With a renewed focus on the Arctic and subarctic areas of the world due to evolving national security needs and changing environmental conditions, an effort to revise outdated construction and facility criteria for military infrastructure in these remote regions is well underway in preparation for future projects.
Having been largely unchanged from the end of the Cold War, the UFC for Arctic and Subarctic Construction recently underwent a review and revision to update them for present day needs. DOD Photo by Christopher R. Williams.

The Arctic and subarctic regions of the globe are vast and encompass a variety of extreme climate conditions in unique environments. Special equipment, unique materials, and novel engineering techniques are required to meet military infrastructure planning, design, construction, and maintenance needs in these harsh, remote regions.

Prior to the 1940s, the U.S. military had limited large-scale operations and infrastructure in Alaska and other Arctic and subarctic regions. During World War II, this changed. The sparsely populated region saw a major build-up of several military installations. This continued into the Cold War due to paramount Arctic military reconnaissance operations, surveillance missions, and military strategic planning. By the 1950s and 1960s, technical guidelines for design and construction were released to support the increased land development in Arctic and subarctic. With the ending of the Cold War, however, attention shifted away from these distant regions. The supporting technical standards went largely unchanged.

Fast forward to the present. The Secretary of Defense in July released the 2024 Arctic Strategy, which, among its areas of discussion, emphasizes the decline of aging infrastructure in the region and how the Department of Defense (DOD) will “maintain investments in key Alaskan and Arctic infrastructure that enables the Joint Force to rapidly project power across the Arctic.”

With an increased international interest in the Arctic and subarctic, and the expected infrastructure projects in these regions, technical standards that reflect current cold region engineering and construction protocols are necessary.

Outdated Guidance

Until pending revisions are formalized, DOD’s engineering guidance for infrastructure design and construction in cold regions currently consists of the inactive seven-volume Unified Facilities Criteria for Arctic and Subarctic Construction (UFC 3-130).

  • UFC 3-130-01 General Provisions
  • UFC 3-130-02 Site Selection and Development
  • UFC 3-130-03 Runway and Road Design
  • UFC 3-130-04 Foundations for Structures
  • UFC 3-130-05 Utilities
  • UFC 3-130-06 Calculation Methods for Depths of Freeze and Thaw in Soils
  • UFC 3-130-07 Buildings

This UFC series was published in 2004 and primarily reflected a re-publication of Army/Air Force Technical and Engineering Manuals dating from the 1950s and 1960s, with no technical updates since before 1990. In 2019, a team from the U.S. Army Engineer Research & Development Center’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) submitted a proposal to the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) for revising the outdated Arctic and subarctic UFCs. The project goal was to update the existing UFC 3-130 series to current design concepts, methods, and innovative tools for Arctic and subarctic design and construction.

ESTCP is DOD’s funding avenue for environmental, resilience, and installation energy and water technology demonstration and validation. The program issues annual solicitations to researchers from industry, academia, and government laboratories and conducts a rigorous selection process to ensure investment supports high-quality projects that meet ESTCP’s goal.

In 2020, a team from CRREL was granted funding for a four-year effort to revise the inactive Arctic and subarctic UFCs. In 2024, ESTCP extended this funding for an additional year to support the approval and publication process of all the new volumes.

Revising the Criteria

The CRREL team worked with leading cold regions professionals from USACE Alaska District, other public agencies, utility companies, and several private engineering firms to revise the Arctic and subarctic UFCs. Updating the criteria required an extensive submittal and review process by Discipline Working Groups, technical editors, and the Coordinating Panel within the Tri-Service Criteria Management System (CMS). As the computer application that supports criteria program and project management, the CMS consists of groups and panels from HQ USACE, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Air Force Civil Engineer Center, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Each working group included a lead representative from every service as well as additional personnel from the military and other defense agencies as associate members. Since the UFCs are used for all DOD infrastructure, a multidisciplinary team is necessary to review the documents and to ensure that respective department requirements are met.

Since the UFCs are used for all DOD infrastructure, a multidisciplinary team is necessary to review the documents and ensure respective department requirements are met.

All publications within the UFC system are composed of requirements, commentary, and guidance. The revised Arctic and subarctic UFCs consist of three types of information.

  • Requirements: Technical chapters of the UFC that outline planning, design, construction, and maintenance of military infrastructure.
  • Commentary: Explanations of modifications and non-government standards—because of the unique aspects of cold region engineering, much of the required state-of-practice are non-government standards and require commentary that speaks to these modified elements.
  • Guidance: Appendices that contain proven facility solutions, systems, and lessons learned that may not be the only solution to meet contractual requirements.

Following the review work, the revised Arctic and subarctic UFC series were then condensed into five volumes:

  • UFC 3-130-01 Engineering
  • UFC 3-130-02 Site Assessment and Selection
  • UFC 3-130-03 Foundations for Freezing and Thawing Conditions
  • UFC 3-130-04 Buildings
  • UFC 3-130-05 Utilities

In particular, two volumes, UFC 3-130-02 and UFC 3-130-03 both underwent significant revisions.

Site Assessment and Selection. This volume highlights the criteria and methods for investigating terrains that are permanently frozen and may pose hazards when changes in the thermal stability, caused by either heat coming directly from the infrastructure or changes in ambient temperatures, impact the frozen stability of the terrain. The inactive version of this volume was revised significantly due to relevant research regarding the use and interpretation of surface-based geophysical methods and their application. CRREL has extensive experience using geophysical techniques, both for applied solutions for mapping as well as surveying with existing geophysical technology. CRREL also has experience testing and evaluating new technologies for applicability to the frozen environment. This knowledge is reflected within the revised UFC.

Foundations for Freezing and Thawing Conditions. The inactive UFC 3-130-04 contained very detailed data and guidance on cold region geotechnical engineering and was academic oriented. The old UFC 3-130-06 relied on nomographs and other methods to calculate freeze and thaw depth. These calculations are now typically done with computer models in software.

The UFC revision was led by a team from the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory and funded through the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program. CRREL photo.
Supporting Effort

Due to the overwhelming amount of information contained in the UFCs, CRREL contracted with WSP to review and fully revise UFC 3-130-03. The contract was handled by USACE Alaska District.

The initial review effort returned high-level commentary as to the technical relevance and appropriateness of the inactive UFCs by several senior engineers specializing in permafrost engineering. After starting the revision effort, WSP consulted with members of the ASCE Cold Regions Engineering Division Frozen Ground and Structures and Foundations Committee and held a meeting with leading subject matter experts in the field to refine the UFC topics and obtain general feedback on foundations in cold regions.

A key change in UFC 3-130-03 is the discussion of climate change and the inclusion of climate predictions driven by global climate models in foundations design. The multi-year, collaborative effort provides current knowledge and state-of-practice that is reflected in a completely revised document, with little direct text of the inactive UFCs incorporated.

Much-Needed Revision

This project has brought a much-needed technical revision to the inactive UFC 3-130 Arctic and subarctic series. The material in these criteria was out of date and no longer able to provide an integral part of the overall UFC catalog. The authors, with substantial input from subject matter experts, members of the CMS, and other stakeholders, provided the strategy, means, and direction to produce new documents with state-of-the-practice requirements and guidance for planning, design, construction, and maintenance of infrastructure in Arctic and subarctic regions.

With the continued interest in cold regions of American allies and near-peer competitors, having applicable technical documents for national security design and construction needs is mission-critical. All five volumes of the newly revised Arctic UFCs are anticipated to be marked “active” in early 2025.

Technical Challenges in the Arctic

Design and construction in cold regions must consider extreme, low-temperature conditions with freezing and thawing periods. Both infrastructure and facilities such as buildings, roads, utilities, embankments, and other assets in these locations encounter a variety of environment-driven issues. As a result, technical guidelines based on the myriad challenges in the Arctic are imperative to support comprehensive, reliable, and resilient design and construction of military infrastructure.

  • Permafrost has the potential to cause detrimental thaw settlement.
  • Frost heaving in soil, rock, pavement, and other materials can jack pavements and foundations, especially piles.
  • Heating of facilities and control of moisture can be costly. Frost development within wall and roof cavities can cause detrimental effects.
  • Extravagant infrastructure and energy consuming conveyance of water, wastewater, fuel.
  • Changing climate, which presents new challenges and environmental constraints with increased slope instabilities, thawing permafrost, coastal erosion, and flooding.
  • Extreme consequences due to severe wind loading, snow drifting, and subsequent melting of drifting snow.
  • A shortened above-freezing summer season and limited daylight in fall and winter.
  • Difficult conditions for transportation, access, material and equipment supplies, and communications.

Samara Miller, P.E., M.SAME, is General Engineer, Engineering Division, Fort Wainwright, Alaska; samara.m.miller.civ@army.mil.

Kevin Bjella, P.E., is Arctic Research Civil Engineer, Wendy Wieder, Ph.D., P.E., is Research Civil Engineer, Engineering Resources Branch, Rosa Affleck, Ph.D., is Senior Research Civil Engineer and CRREL-AIL Program Manager, and Wade Lein, Ph.D., P.E., is Research Civil Engineer, Engineering Resources Branch, Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory – U.S. Army Engineer Research & Development Center. They can be reached at kevin.bjella@usace.army.mil; wendy.l.wieder@erdc.dren.mil; rosa.t.affleck@usace.army.mil; and wade.a.lein@usace.army.mil.

Article published in The Military Engineer, November-December 2024

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