# What happens to something built on top of ice? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 1, 2017, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-something-built-on-top-of-ice/790301 "2017-07-01T19:05:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Contemplation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Contemplation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contemplation)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2017, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-something-built-on-top-of-ice/790301/1 "2017-07-01T19:05:21Z")
What would happen to something built on top of ice (like a house) when the ice underneath it melts? just a curious question ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2017, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-something-built-on-top-of-ice/790301/2 "2017-07-01T19:10:51Z")
It would get very wet as it sank. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2017, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-something-built-on-top-of-ice/790301/3 "2017-07-01T20:03:31Z")
Wetter than the balls of a little person who is standing in a deep puddle. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2017, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-something-built-on-top-of-ice/790301/4 "2017-07-01T20:46:02Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Wetter than the balls of a little person who is standing in a deep puddle. Nope, won’t get that wet unless a tall person is sitting on top of him. I parts of Greernland, things like old WWll airplanes get covered in snow & ice and gradually sink deep into the ice cover as it builds up. But you can build your house there if you want and use it for a while. Utilities are a problem and the nearest grocery store is a way far away. Need to really like isolation to handle this I would expect. On a lake in Nebraska, you are OK until Spring. Then see post 2 & 3. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2017, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-something-built-on-top-of-ice/790301/5 "2017-07-01T21:16:25Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > I parts of Greernland That’s a great start for a haiku. Here’s an article on [building on ice](https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/frozenground/people.html) and problems when it melts. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2017, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-something-built-on-top-of-ice/790301/6 "2017-07-01T21:27:39Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > That’s a great start for a haiku. > > Here’s an article on [building on ice](https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/frozenground/people.html) and problems when it melts. National Snow & Ice Data Center You don’t have to be frigid to work here, but it helps. ---
**Author:** ![longPath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@longPath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/longPath)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2017, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-something-built-on-top-of-ice/790301/7 "2017-07-01T22:34:57Z")
Going further north will solve the problem! Oh… wait. Camp Century. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-something-built-on-top-of-ice/790301/8 "2017-07-02T06:27:37Z")
Ok, let’s take the house example. If you build it up really skookum and make sure it’s placed secure on top of an ice flow, and then, the ice melts, _but then_, the ice starts to freeze up _again_ while the house is sort of in the _middle_ of melting its way downwards (diagonally for some reason), then - that’s really a sticky situation, kind of being in limbo, and I’d really try to avoid that if you can. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2017, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-something-built-on-top-of-ice/790301/9 "2017-07-02T14:44:41Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Wetter than the balls of a little person who is standing in a deep puddle. But would the house undergo shrinkage as well? ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2017, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-something-built-on-top-of-ice/790301/10 "2017-07-03T01:44:34Z")
> [@Contemplation](#): > > What would happen to something built on top of ice (like a house) when the ice underneath it melts? > > just a curious question _cough_ Antactica _cough_ ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2017, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-something-built-on-top-of-ice/790301/11 "2017-07-03T12:03:27Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > But would the house undergo shrinkage as well? For rent: efficiency apartment; originally 3 BR split-level with integral garage. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2017, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-something-built-on-top-of-ice/790301/12 "2017-07-03T12:49:22Z")
I read of a community up where they have those ice roads - they would park a car on the ice on the river and raffle off tickets as to when it would sink in the spring. I’ve read a few articles on house of the northern tundra built on permafrost. A house build on that frozen ground would help insulate the ground, so it would slowly melt and get mushy (peat bog). SO nowadays, most such northern communities in Yukon, NW Territories, Nunavut, etc. are built on stilts, with room for the cold air to circulate underneath. Presumably the same would apply with pure ice. I assume we’re talking about Antarctica where the ice doesn’t melt. So the first point is to “spread the load” on pads, so that the PSI is low enough not to cause serious sinking. Then allow air flow under the building and insulate the crap out of the floor so heat from the building does not cause the ice to melt. Or… some buildings look like they could be jacked up and moved if the ice below causes the building to sink, just move a few feet.