Building in the North is a fully updated edition of the classic work by Elbert F. Rice, a professor at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, who with a steady supply of wit, charm, and his own hands-on experience helped to invent Northern engineering. Easily readable and accessible to anyone with a healthy sense of humor and a willingness to live in the beautiful North, this guide is essential for those who dream of building that longed-for cabin in the woods—or simply find themselves needing to learn to cope with the threat of permafrost in a frigid climate. Illustrated with Rice’s own drawings and filled with invaluable folk knowledge, this contribution to science and human experience in the Great North will delight adventurers and natives alike.

Elbert F. Rice was part of the scientific expedition on the USS Manhattan that traveled through the Northwest Passage trying to determine the feasibility of transporting oil by tanker to the continental US prior to the building of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. He was professor at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, from 1952 until 1982.