Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory The Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory ( CRREL ) is a United States Army Corps of Engineers , Engineer Research and Development Center research facility headquartered in Hanover , New Hampshire that provides scientific and engineering support to the U . S . government and its military with a core emphasis on cold environments . CRREL also provides technical support to non - government customers . CRREL arose from a consolidation of three antecedent organizations whose purpose was to understand frozen ground , permafrost , snow and ice as factors which were important in strategic northern areas during the Cold War . In its first 25 years CRREL researchers contributed to the understanding of polar ice caps , permafrost , and the engineering technology for developing natural resources in cold climates , such as Alaska . More recently , CRREL researchers have made contributions to science in climate change , the understanding of wave propagation for sensor systems , the control of snow on structures and ice in navigable waterways , and the environmental remediation of military installations . Mission areas . The stated mission of CRREL is to " solve interdisciplinary , strategically important problems of the US Army Corps of Engineers , Army , DOD , and the Nation by advancing and applying science and engineering to complex environments , materials , and processes in all seasons and climates , with unique core competencies related to the Earth ' s cold regions . " The technical areas that CRREL staff reportedly engage in are : Facilities . The main facility is located in Hanover , New Hampshire north of Dartmouth College . The facilities include : Other laboratories cover chemistry , biology , and civil engineering topics . CRREL maintains an office at Fort Wainwright , near Fairbanks , Alaska , and an office at the Army Corps of Engineers Alaska District in Anchorage , Alaska . History . CRREL was formed on 1 February 1961 from a merger of the earlier Snow , Ice and Permafrost Research Establishment ( SIPRE ) with the Arctic Construction and Frost Effects Laboratory ( ACFEL ) . Antecedents and establishment . CRREL ' s antecedents and establishment were chronicled in an official history . In 1944 - 53 the U . S . Army Corps of Engineers established three independent organizations that were the antecedents to CRREL . Within its New England Division , the Corps of Engineers founded the Frost Effects Laboratory to " coordinate research on the effects of frost on the design and construction of roads , airfields and structures in frost - affected areas , " based in Boston , Massachusetts in 1944 . The Corps of Engineers ' St . Paul ( Minnesota ) District established its Permafrost Division in 1944 to determine design methods and construction procedures for the construction of airfields on permafrost . The Corps established SIPRE ( the Snow , Ice and Permafrost Research Establishment ) in 1949 , which moved to Wilmette , Illinois in 1951 . Its purpose was to " conduct basic and applied research in snow , ice and frozen ground . " In 1953 , the Corps merged the Frost Effects Laboratory and Permafrost Division of the St . Paul District to establish ACFEL ( the Arctic Construction and Frost Effects Laboratory ) in Boston . In 1959 , SIPRE researchers participated in the establishment of Camp Century in Greenland to study technical and scientific issues with a facility , based on the Greenland Ice Cap . Having built a new facility for the combined SIPRE and AFCEL organizations , the Corps established CRREL on 1 February 1961 in Hanover , New Hampshire , 1961 - 1986 . During its first quarter century , CRREL researchers and staff were active in the Arctic , Antarctica , Alaska and the Great Lakes , providing climatic history data , addressing resource extraction issues and extending winter navigation . Drilling through ice caps . In 1966 , CRREL researchers successfully drilled through the Greenland ice cap to a depth of . The effort took three years , but provided a continuous ice core that represented more than 120 , 000 years . This extended the ability of scientists to interpret climatic history and became an early source of information about global climate change . In 1968 , the same CRREL team was the first to penetrate the Antarctic ice cap , after drilling through over of ice , providing a climatic record at a second location on the globe . Facilitating Alaska North Slope oil development . The 1967 discovery of oil north of Alaska ’ s Brooks Range raised two basic questions that CRREL was positioned to answer as a consultant to participating oil companies : how to extract oil from frozen terrain , permafrost , or from under the perennially frozen Beaufort Sea , and how best to transport the crude oil to the continental U . S . for refining and consumption . CRREL staff members participated in the exploration of two transportation options , the use of an ice - breaking oil tanker , and the use of an over - land pipeline that would cross much of Alaska over regions of permafrost . As for the Beaufort Sea , CRREL researchers conducted studies of the properties and behavior of arctic sea ice , which would present a problem for off - shore drilling operations . CRREL researchers were active participants in both voyages of the icebreaking oil tanker " SS Manhattan " to assess the feasibility of the sea transport option . At the same time , CRREL engineers reviewed and advised the federal inspector of the Trans - Alaska Pipeline . During the construction of the pipeline , CRREL researchers studied the engineering implications of foundations and roadways over permafrost and ice . Freshwater navigation . In the 1970s CRREL supported a Corps of Engineers initiative to extend navigation through the Great Lakes and St . Lawrence Seaway throughout the winter . They developed methods to address icing of locks and the clogging of waterways with floating ice that included booms , bubblers , and coatings of locks . Cold War role . CRREL played a role in assisting the U . S . Air Force to establish and maintain a system of Distant Early Warning ( DEW ) Line facilities during the Cold War era . In 1976 , a CRREL researcher was instrumental in the moving of a 10 - story - high , 3 , 300 - ton DEW Line facility on the Greenland Ice Cap from a foundation that had been compromised by the movement of the ice on which it was built to a new foundation . In 1984 , CRREL personnel completed their survey reports for 31 sites of the new North Warning System that replaced the DEW line . A continuing scientific exchange between CRREL and Soviet cold regions research institutions began in 1972 , these included the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute in Leningrad and Permafrost Research Institute in Yakutsk . 1986 - present . CRREL ' s second 25 years saw the dissolution of the Soviet Union , the end of the Cold War and a shift in funding that reduced the emphasis of direct appropriations from Congress to a greater reliance on reimbursement for research from CRREL ' s customers , as evidenced by the sponsorship of its technical reports . Customers funding CRREL research included various components of the U . S . Army , Air Force and Navy . In addition , civilian agencies turned to CRREL for research answers , including the National Science Foundation , the Environmental Protection Agency , and NASA . In addition , a variety of private organizations funded CRREL research to solve problems that they faced . CRREL ' s list of technical reports lists 27 topical categories , covering science and engineering . Military research . CRREL continued to grow its capability to serve the U . S . military with programs in signal propagation that would facilitate the detection of enemy movements via infrared imaging , radar , acoustics or seismic sensors in any meteorological conditions . It served the environmental needs of the U . S . Army by facilitating the identification and clean - up of contaminants on training lands , due primarily to partially detonated explosives or unexploded ordnance ( UXO ) . Other researchers addressed mobility issues with vehicles over snow and muddy terrain . CRREL researchers participated in defining tactical runway requirements for the C - 17 military transport aircraft . Civilian research . CRREL staff continued to make a mark in polar research , both in the Arctic and Antarctic . In the Arctic , CRREL researchers were active in modeling shipping in the Northern Sea Route and the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean ( SHEBA ) experiment , conducted in the Arctic Ocean from October 1997 to October 1998 to provide polar input to global climate model s . Other researchers performed traverses of Antarctica and Greenland to collect data , pertinent to global climate change . In 2010 , a CRREL researcher was co - chief scientist on another icebreaker - based scientific mission , called " Impacts of Climate Change on Ecosystems and Chemistry of the Arctic Pacific Environment " or ICESCAPE , to determine " the impact of climate change on the biogeochemistry and ecology of the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas . " Other CRREL researchers developed ways to upgrade and maintain the research facilities of the U . S . National Science Foundation in Antarctica , including the design and construction of a new South Pole Station and developing criteria to allow modern aircraft to land on snow runways . CRREL staff explored and helped develop a new overland supply route across the Ross Ice Shelf over the Antarctic Range and the Antarctic ice cap to lower the cost of supplying the South Pole Station . In its Corps of Engineers Civil Works mission , CRREL researchers developed innovative ways to avoid ice jams and databases to address the widespread occurrence of such problems . A substantial Ice Engineering Facility was built to support modeling of these problems . A Remote - Sensing and GIS ( Geographical Information System ) facility and organization were established to better employ the resources of satellite imagery and mapping of information to address problems world - wide . Another major facility , the Frost Effects Research Facility , was built to study problems associated with airfields and roadways , subject to freeze - thaw . An automated loading machine was acquired to simulate the passage of vehicle and aircraft tires on pavements . In building technology , researchers helped develop statistical means to identify snow and icing loads throughout the United States and standards for measuring heat loss , roof moisture detection , and frost - protected shallow foundations . Realignment . In October 1999 , CRREL became a member of an umbrella organization of Corps of Engineers laboratories , called the Engineer Research and Development Center ( ERDC ) . The consolidation of seven laboratories , the Coastal and Hydraulics , Environmental , Geotechnical and Structures , and Information Technology Laboratories in Vicksburg , Mississippi ; the Construction Engineering Research Laboratory in Champaign , Illinois ; CRREL in New Hampshire . ; and the Topographic Engineering Center in Alexandria , Virginia established the ERDC in four geographic sites around the country . Remediation of trichloroethylene spills . Originally , CRREL cold - room facilities used trichloroethylene ( TCE ) as a refrigerant . At the time there were few known environmental hazards attributed to TCE . Subsequently , TCE has been identified as a carcinogen . In 1970 , an industrial accident resulted in a spill of approximately 3 , 000 gallons of TCE . In 1978 , TCE was introduced into the ground via an experimental well . After the 1990 discovery of TCE in groundwater , CRREL embarked on a remediation plan , approved by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services ( NHDES ) , with assistance from the U . S . Army Toxic and Hazardous Materials Agency and the Corps of Engineers New England Division . NHDES reports that CRREL no longer stores TCE on site and the remediation of TCE in the groundwater is subject to monitoring in test wells . According to an Army press release cited in the local newspaper , the Army expanded monitoring of TCE at other locations on the CRREL campus and found some elevated readings in 2011 . Thereafter , they initiated a monitoring well and soil sampling program to map the concentrations of the substance on the site . The information gained should lead to a new cleanup strategy for the site , according to the 2012 report . Army environmental specialists have detected TCE at neighboring residential and school properties . Awards . Army Research and Development . The Army Research and Development Achievement Award is provided to distinguished researchers working within the Army laboratory system . Some notable CRREL recipients were : Army laboratory awards . As a laboratory , CRREL received Army awards for excellence in 1975 and 1978 . In 1991 and 1994 CRREL won the Army Laboratory of the Year award for excellence . In 1997 the laboratory won the overall Army Laboratory of the Year award . After joining ERDC in 1999 , CRREL has been a consistent contributor of accomplishments that allowed ERDC became a frequent winner of the Army Research Laboratory of the Year award , five times in its first eight years .