These are actually columbs holding up the hotel where these guys were staying. The structures are built on these columbs to further reduce the footprint of the buildings.
To be free of the mideast/canada/mexico and their hold on oil...would be the knockout punch in the war on terror.
Permafrost. Most buildings up there are lifted so that the heat doesn’t turn the permafrost mud into a gelatinous goo around and under them. Heavy concrete slabs in heated buildings have insulation under them to keep the heat out of the soil.