New Northern Advisory Committee chair on building a climate-resilient future
With changing precipitation patterns, permafrost degradation and coastal erosion threatening communities and infrastructure, one recent study states Canada’s North is facing the intensifying effects of climate change. In the Northwest Territories alone, the risk of potential loss of infrastructure across 33 communities is an estimated $1.3 billion. This puts economic losses to about $51 million every year. Today, standards are playing a vital role in helping the North to preserve and adapt its aging infrastructure in pursuit of a climate-resilient future.
Through the Northern Advisory Committee (NAC) of the Northern Infrastructure Standardization Initiative (NISI), SCC collaborates with northern practitioners and regulators to develop and update standards and codes that facilitate the adaptation and mitigation of climate change.
The NAC recently welcomed a new chair, Mark V. Cronk, P.Eng., FEC. He is director at the Government of the Northwest Territories’ Design and Technical Services, Asset Management Division, Department of Infrastructure. As a civil engineer, he brings over 35 years of cold regions experience. He has been a constructor, a consulting engineer and an owner’s representative for both federal and territorial governments.
“Climate change continues to be a significant Northern challenge, and we are continuing to learn how to adapt to the impacts,” Mark said. “We need to understand and preserve the original design intent of existing infrastructure to achieve its full-service life, while we plan, design and construct more resilient infrastructure in the future.”
Over his career, he saw the critical need for standards that address the unique challenges of small, remote northern projects. This is what inspired him to become NAC chair.
“The North continues to be challenged by aging infrastructure and impacts of climate change,” he said. “NAC, in collaboration with cold regions practitioners, continues to guide the development of effective northern specific standards that support improved planning, design, construction and operations and maintenance – there is more good work to do in this space.”
He sees capturing and incorporating the knowledge and lessons learned from highly skilled and experienced cold regions practitioners as one of the greatest opportunities for standards-based solutions to address those challenges.
To learn more about the NAC and NISI standards, visit our NISI page.