R&M is a leader
in the area of permafrost investigations and engineering
for roads, airports, pipelines and structures. Our staff
is experienced in perennially frozen ground (permafrost),
its occurrence, associated vegetation, surface expression,
description and sampling methods. R&M’s engineers
are accomplished in foundation design for ice-rich soils
and the analysis of foundation failures and mitigation when
these soils thaw.
R&M maintains single and
multiple-point thermistor strings and can obtain ground temperature
measurements economically, without having to resort to the
purchase of expensive 
instrumentation
for each new project. Our firm has gained extensive experience
in periglacial geomorphology (terrain which is subject to extreme
frost action), which is common in Southcentral Alaska and in
mountainous areas. R&M’s staff has experience in
northern regions hydrology and the effect of river ice as it
relates to deposition and erosion of soils along Alaska’s
rivers and streams. Our firm is also well acquainted with groundwater
conditions in the arctic and subarctic and with problems that
can occur when groundwater and permafrost occur together (frost
mounds, pingos, etc.).
R&M’s permafrost investigation
services include:
- Arctic Foundations
- Drilling and Sampling
- Thaw Settlement Analysis
- Deformation and Strength
- Analysis of Frozen Soils
- Thermal Analysis and Modeling
- Borrow Pits in Frozen Soil
- Terrain Analysis and Route Studies
- Utilidor Studies
- Embankment Design
- Geophysical Investigations
