Monitoring the Thermal and Mechanical Behaviours of Puvirnituq Airstrip, Nunavik, Northern Quebec

The Puvirnituq airstrip has an important embankment that fills a valley composed of saline fine-grained sediment. Subsidence has been observed at this location of the runway. The Puvirnituq airstrip has been extended in 2009. During the construction work, a convective embankment and a berm with ventilation system has been constructed. The small creek has also been diverted. The embankment and the natural ground have been instrumented in order to monitor the thermal and mechanical behaviours of Puvirnituq airstrip. This paper summarizes the observations made during the two first monitoring years. A decrease of the active layer thickness has been observed on three of the four thermistor strings. Indications of a convective movement in the embankment have also been observed.