Other Meetings

Ninth International Symposium on Permafrost Engineering

October 2011, Mirny, Yakutia, Russia

The symposium

The aim of the Symposium is to provide a forum for discussion of permafrost engineering issues, as well as for exchange of practical experience in construction and maintenance of engineering structures on frozen ground. We hope that the Symposium will bring together researchers and engineers who work in cold/permafrost regions to discuss the ways and means for early detection of adverse frost-related processes that may cause economic losses and environmental damage, as well as to provide climate change adaptation measures based on permafrost monitoring and experimental research on frozen soil/rock mechanics.
The Symposium will facilitate cooperation within the permafrost community on finding engineering solutions that would lead to comfortable living conditions and effective resource management in frozen-ground areas, thus contributing to the goals of the Russian Scientific Council on Earth Cryology and the International Permafrost Association.

Venue

The Symposium will be held in Mirny, western Yakutia, on September 3-5, 2011. Field excursions will be organized on September 6 and 7 to visit the diamond mine facilities, Vilyui Hydro dam and reservoir, and other engineering structures in the Mirny area.
Mirny is the center of the Russian diamond-mining industry. It is located on the Irelyakh River (Vilyui’s basin, western Yakutia), 1207 kilometers west of Yakutsk and 4200 km from Moscow. The population is 36,600 (2009). Mirny was founded in 1955 after the discovery of a kimberlite pipe which was named Mir (‘peace’). Between 1957 and 2001 the Mir Mine was operated as an open pit diamond mine. By 2001, the pit was 525 m deep and 1200 m in diameter, having become one of the largest excavations in the world. Mir is now being conversed into an underground mine. Mir and other diamond mines in Yakutia are operated by Alrosa Co. The town is served by Mirny Airport. Commercial airlines connect Mirny to Moscow, Yakutsk, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, as well as to the rest of Yakutia.

Organizers and Sponsors

The 9th International Symposium on Permafrost Engineering is sponsored by the Administrations of Yakutsk, Mirny and Mirny District; the Sakha (Yakutia) Ministries of Science and Professional Education, Transport and Informatization, Building Materials and Construction, Environmental Protection, and Industry; Alrosa Co. Ltd., ‘Transportation Union’ Non-Profit Partnership, Yakutskenergo Co., and Yakutia Railways Co.
The organizers of the Symposium are the Melnikov Permafrost Institute (Yakutsk, Russia), the Institute of Northern Mining (Yakutsk, Russia), the Cold and Arid Regions Engineering and Environmental Research Institute (Lanzhou, China) and the Heilongjiang Institute of Cold Region Engineering (Harbin, China).

Scientific Advisory Committee

Hans-W. Hubberten, President, International Permafrost Association
Vladimir Melnikov, Director, Earth Cryosphere Institute
Cheng Guodong, Academician, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Vladimir Balobaev, Advisor, Russian Academy of Sciences

Organizing Committee

Co-Chairmen
Rudolf Zhang, Director, Permafrost Institute
Ma Wei, Vice Director, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute
Zhu Weizhong, Director, Heilongjiang Institute of Cold Region Engineering
Members: Georgy Kuzmin, Igor Rasstegaev, Dmitry Shesternev, Vladimir Makarov, Igor Guryanov, Sergey Velikin (Permafrost Institute); S.M. Tkach, V.P. Zubkov (Institute of Northern Mining), Lai Yuanming, Wu Qingbai, Niu Fujun (Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute); Wang Jiliang, Zhu Lei, Zhu Guangxiang (Heilongjiang Institute of Cold Region Engineering).

Secretariat

Olga Alekseeva, Permafrost Institute; e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Zhao Shuping, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute; e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Lilia Prokopieva, Permafrost Institute; e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Symposium Languages

The languages of the Symposium will be Russian and English.

Registration Fee

The registration fee is US$150 (US$50 for students). It includes the proceedings volume, refreshment breaks at technical sessions and lunch. Excursion fees will be charged separately.

Pre-registration and Abstract Submission

Potential participants and/or authors are requested to submit their abstracts, together with the pre-registration form, by February 1, 2011. Abstracts should be sent by e-mail to the Symposium Secretariat ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ). Notices of acceptance will be sent with the Second Circular in February 2011.
All accepted papers will be published in the Symposium Proceedings. Authors will be requested to send their papers by May 1, 2011. Instructions for paper preparation will be given in the Second Circular.

Pre-Registration Form

Please fill in the form and e-mail, together with your abstract, to the Symposium Secretariat ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) by February 1, 2011.

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I would like to participate in the excursion (Yes/No)