So, what are those pipes that are everywhere in Longyearbyen...?
The simple answer is utilities – water and sewer pipes that also have, I am guessing this next bit, electrical and comms wires piggy-backing along.
Because of the permafrost here [which is getting a little less permanent and also less frosty] all of the pipes are above ground, and quite often on wooden platforms.
I have grown to really like them, the way they insist on having their space in the landscape – importantly, honestly and obtrusively.