Upstream Consulting​
Arctic Engineering

With extensive experience as a provider of specialist engineering design services in cold weather climates, Ausenco never gets cold feet. Our expertise helps solve clients' challenges in developing projects from feasibility study to design, engineering and project delivery in cold and harsh weather environments.  
 
Our pioneering work on ice technology has made Ausenco the leading designer of ice roads, ice islands and ice-resistant structures to support arctic oil and gas development. Our experience and expertise covers projects from concept studies through to detailed design, for resources and energy clients developing projects in cold and harsh weather environments.
 
We have been working continuously in the Arctic for more than 35 years. Completing more than 60 projects in Canada, Alaska, Russia and Greenland, we are associated with a number of firsts in arctic and offshore engineering, including the:

• First artificial island, Immerk
• First deep-water steel caisson, Molikpaq
• First spray-ice bottom-founded island, Mars
• First spray-ice floating island, Panarctic.

Our engineering and project expertise include:

Winterisation of facilities:

• Construction of mining facilities in extreme cold weather conditions
• Covered belt conveyor design and construction for extreme cold temperatures
• Insulated and heat traced pipeline design for and installation in extreme cold temperatures conditions
• Construction of thermal corridors between plant buildings
• Winterised fuel dispensing facilities
• Insulating and heating requirements for outdoor process tanks and outdoor rotating equipment operating in extreme cold temperatures
• Installation, commissioning and start-up of plant in winter conditions
• Field construction planning in a extreme temperature gradient environment
• Plant layouts for cold weather environments
• Maintaining plant integrity in a extreme temperature gradient environment
• Plant operations and maintenance in a extreme temperature gradient environment
• Emergency response.

Arctic and remote regions logistics:

• Winterised access roads
• Winterised vehicle maintenance shops
• Winterised structures for stockpiling of resources like fuel and explosives
• Winterising residential facilities
• Winterising plant buildings
• Heating requirements / warming sheds for equipment and workers
• Electricity generating facilities / diesel and natural gas plants for generating electricity
• Construction offsite support and offsite storage management.
• Modularisation for cost efficiency and fast installation of equipment and plant in difficult environmental conditions. 

We also offer expertise in all project phases across the different sectors. Our experienced team provide services in:

• Arctic environment and ice characteristics assessment
• Ice-resistant offshore platforms 
• Ice-resistant port structures
• Ice-resistant floating structures
• Ice-resistant artificial islands
• Ice roads, airstrips and drill pads (offshore and onshore) 
• Ice spray and testing equipment
• Through-the-ice pipe lay
• Permafrost foundations
• Arctic product transport simulation 
• Coastal and dredging
• Arctic and remote region logistics

To read more about our ingenious solutions in icy conditions, click on the related featured projects or contact one of our Experts.