The Russian Ministry of Construction, Housing and Utilities proposed compiling a forecast of changes in the Arctic ground temperature to ensure the safe operation of buildings and structures, the ministry's website reports.

"We proposed creating and testing a mechanism for geotechnical monitoring of large cities in the permafrost zone. This mechanism will monitor changes in the ground temperature near foundations of buildings and structures on a regular basis, as well as groundwater level changes, and detect deformations in foundations and changes in the durability of construction materials in buildings," said Deputy Construction Minister Yelena Sierra.

The ground temperature forecast will also include an analysis of meteorological data, trends of air temperature fluctuations and results of thermotechnical calculations carried out with the use of special software systems, the website reports.

Moreover, in order to reduce the impact of various industry-related factors on the permafrost, it was proposed to devise a system of requirements to designing and calculating substructures and foundations in the Arctic, the press release stated. To make survey works in the Arctic faster and less expensive, new express methods of soil analysis should be developed as well.