ABSTRACT
A tower head-frame (Fig. 1) at the top of the shaft at the «Internationalny» (Mirny, Yakutia) underground mine has been constructed for transport of men and materials. The foundation of the tower head frame structure is, however, situated in permafrost ground. Frozen ground has no or little bearing strength when thawed, and under thawed condition the ground cannot support the load of the head frame structure. In order to achieve structural stability, often structures are built on piles. The head-frame base under discussion is built on 132 piles, each pile has the load carrying capability of 100 tons. On the basis of mathematical simulation, a freezing system consisting of two concentric freezing holes (Fig. 2) have been constructed for rebuilding and sustaining of frozen state of the foundation base. An automated thermo-measurement system allows controlling of the temperature regime of the tower head-frame foundation.
