Construction and Maintenance of Transportation Infrastructure in Extreme Environments

Dear Colleagues,

Infrastructure development is rapidly expanding into regions and depths previously deemed impractical, such as high-latitude and high-altitude permafrost zones, alpine glacier corridors, polar coastal areas, and underground spaces. These extreme environments present unconventional challenges, including persistent low temperatures, freeze–thaw cycles, and complex thermo-hydro-mechanical interactions, which constrain traditional design and construction methodologies. Additionally, climate change exacerbates permafrost degradation and fosters warmer and more humid conditions in high-altitude and high-latitude regions. To address these challenges, advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data analysis, and construction automation are crucial for the effective surveillance, monitoring, design, and construction of infrastructure in these demanding environments.

This Special Issue seeks to bring together the latest research and practical innovations related to the development of smart, safe, robust, and sustainable infrastructure in extreme environments, particularly in polar regions, cold climates, and underground settings. We invite original contributions—including experimental investigations, numerical analyses, materials science studies, field monitoring, case studies, polar station planning and building techniques, and review articles—that explore the fundamental mechanisms, assessment methodologies, and engineering solutions for infrastructure subjected to severe climatic and geological conditions.

We welcome papers on topics including, but not limited to, the following:

• Low-temperature tunnel engineering: Design, construction, and operation in cold regions; lining behaviour and temperature-induced cracking; and long-term performance.
• Ventilation and thermal control for frozen-ground tunnels: Heat transfer, icing mitigation, energy-efficient ventilation strategies, and coupled airflow–temperature modelling.
• Permafrost subgrade and foundation performance: Frost heave, thaw settlement, stability evaluation, and mitigation measures (insulation, thermosyphons, cooling systems).
• Cold-region transportation infrastructure: Roads, railways, bridges, and ancillary systems under snow/ice loads and freeze–thaw action; maintenance and adaptation strategies.
• Polar and high-latitude coastal/port/research station engineering: Ice actions, wave–ice interaction, polar research station planning and building techniques, durability in saline and low-temperature conditions, and structural reliability of port facilities.
• Glacier and permafrost-induced hazards: Monitoring, prediction, and risk assessment of debris flows, thaw slumps, and ice/rock avalanches.
• Freeze–thaw deterioration of materials and structures: Micro–macro damage mechanisms, scaling/spalling, fatigue interaction, and performance-based durability design.
• Materials adapted to extreme environments: Self-healing materials, smart materials, durable materials, and materials adapted to 3D concrete printing in extreme environments.
• Durability degradation in extreme environments: Corrosion, salt crystallisation, low-temperature embrittlement, and lifecycle performance modelling under multi-factor coupling.
• Underground engineering challenges: Rockburst, squeezing ground, large deformation control, and support optimisation under frozen land.
• Reliability and resilience assessment: Probabilistic design, uncertainty quantification, fragility analysis, and decision support for extreme-environment infrastructure management.
• Monitoring, sensing, and digital technologies: SHM in cold/deep settings, remote sensing and UAV/robot inspection, data-driven methods, digital twins, and BIM-enabled lifecycle management.

Dr. Fenglei Han
Dr. Shenglin Wang
Dr. Abimbola Grace Oyeyi
Dr. Ali Qabur
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Infrastructures is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• cold regions engineering
• high-latitude and high-altitude area
• permafrost engineering
• freeze–thaw damage
• geotechnical physics and mechanics
• novel materials and technology
• automation and digitalization in construction
• sustainable pavements using recycled and waste materials
• circular economy in transportation infrastructure
• infrastructure resilience under climate change impacts
• performance-based design and maintenance of transportation systems