Photograph of pile foundation being used to support bents (or underpinning) in flume construction over ground surface that had previously been thawed out by means of sixteen-foot miner's steam points. In this manner the moss was broken only to admit the pile, the ground around the pile froze again through the winter to its original state. This method proved best in flume construction and use over this type of ground cover. Note erosion of ground in foreground, due to thawing of permafrost.