It proved a great interview, the Binkleys are nice people and work hard to make their guests feel at home. We pulled up to a shed adjacent to the huge, well protected entrance to the tunnel. A huge air conditioning unit whirred outside the tunnel door entrance. Dr. Doug Kane, University of Alaska professor of civil engineering had traveled to the site to act as our host for a subterranean tour of one of this region's most fascinating and potentially troublesome natural phenomena permafrost. Defined as any soil solidly frozen for at least two years, the undetected presence of permafrost, Dr. Kane told us, can eventually lead to serious damage or even the destruction of any structure constructed on top of it.
Buildings generate heat and melt the permafrost, sinking with time into the unfrozen soil.
Mortgage lenders have been known to pull back mortgage approvals if evidence a home is built of a permafrost layer is discovered. The 798 mile Trans-Alaska Pipeline, a good part of which travels over permafrost, had to have cooling devices installed on legs which suspend the pipeline above ground to effectively refrigerate these legs before they melted into the icy soil, possibly rupturing the pipeline. Our descent into the tunnel was at hand and I was really looking forward to it. I had read of this unique facility but never imagined I would have a chance to see it firsthand. With my crew at my side, Dr. Kane opened the door and a first gush of musty smelling air surged over us as we entered.