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'Ice Highway' To Open Earth's Last Frontier

Posted by timothy on from the antarctica-for-the-antarcticans-I-say dept.

JayBonci writes "CNN is carrying a story on an Ice Highway to make it easier to access the South Pole. The 1,020 mile "highway" may be completed as soon as 2006. Because of the nature of the ever-shifting ice, maintenance is going to be difficult to say the least, but it will provide greater access to the region for supplies and scientists."

35 comments

  1. Now all they need is a sign... by zuikaku · · Score: 4, Funny
    "Last gas 1,020 miles!"

    1. Re:Now all they need is a sign... by Tumbleweed · · Score: 1

      Yo. Nerd. You're on Slashdot. That should be, "Last gas 1,024 miles!"

      Or kilometers, depending on if you're non-American.

      They should make a vehicle that runs on snow for down there. Some kind of "snowmobile." Yeah, that'd be good. Either that or penguin-powered. Too bad it's the wrong pole for polar bears - they'd be fun to ride. You know, except for the mauling and eating bit.

    2. Re:Now all they need is a sign... by MBCook · · Score: 2, Funny
      Yeah, that may be true, but at least we all know there will be at least 20 McDonald's along a stretch that long.

      All you need is a car that can run on french fries and your set!

      --
      Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
    3. Re:Now all they need is a sign... by SmackCrackandPot · · Score: 1

      Sorry for the inconvenience - the car wash is closed - we're waiting for it to be defrosted.

    4. Re:Now all they need is a sign... by Technician · · Score: 1

      The sign would be wrong. I don't think you can buy gas in 1,020 miles. The sign should simply say LAST GAS. No gas ahead.

      --
      The truth shall set you free!
    5. Re:Now all they need is a sign... by sharkdba · · Score: 1

      The sign should simply say LAST GAS. No gas ahead.

      You're right. And they should also put "Dead end", or "No outlet" signs, since the only way out is by coming back the same road.

      --
      The purpose of life is to find the purpose of life.
  2. There goes the neighborhood by ferralis · · Score: 1

    We should run a pool on how long it will be before the first Starbucks pops up...

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    Any generalization is a stupid one.
  3. Next Headline in Yahoo by georgewad · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Tourists Put Antarctic Ecosystem in Peril
    How appropriate.

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    Karma: It's not just a good idea. It's the law.
  4. boring ride by kwoff · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    That looks like a long, boring ride from the picture. I don't imagine the radio reception is very good there either. Actually, look at the picture makes me feel sad for some reason.

  5. As the road shifts. by ForestGrump · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Because the road is a definate scar across the surface of the ice, it would make it much easier to track movements and discontinuties in the ice; which would otherwise be unseen by the naked eye.

    -Grump

    --
    Is it true that more people vote for the winner of American Idol, than vote for the president? -Ali G.
  6. The question is... by Dr.+GeneMachine · · Score: 2, Funny

    ... who wants to go there? Looks worse than Nebraska...

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    This comment does not exist.
    1. Re:The question is... by Tumbleweed · · Score: 1

      Still better than South Dakota!

      So the next step is, what, condos? Sure, the commute to the Vally is a killer, but look at those prices! :)

    2. Re:The question is... by Dr.+GeneMachine · · Score: 1

      Well, and that from a guy named Tumbleweed... If there were weeds, it would be tumbleweed county, if nothing else...

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      This comment does not exist.
    3. Re:The question is... by Cyno01 · · Score: 1

      Reminds me of this.

      --
      "Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
  7. how usable will this be? by fireduck · · Score: 2, Interesting

    the idea, presumably, is to truck supplies overland in antarctica, rather than flying them in with cargo planes. how practical is that? truck needs gas to travel 2000+ miles and then you've got this "stretching road" problem to deal with ("From one summer to the next the crevasse field moved about 1,000 feet north and grew about 100 feet longer."). So, your road needs to be replowed every year to account for the fact that it's now 100 feet away from where you left it?

    1. Re:how usable will this be? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd presume the road was made, just so that there is a actual alternative to flying for if flying isn't possible, it's perhaps possible the road would still be travable in the winter for very pressing matters, supply shortfalls, whatever? Noone spends 20 million for completly nothing afterall. Well not anyone who's still partially sane.

      Quickshot

    2. Re:how usable will this be? by barakn · · Score: 1

      The Going To The Sun Highway in Glacier National Park is plowed out every spring. Somehow 600,000 vehicles a year manage to use it.

      --
      "I'm so moist I'm sticking to the leather." -Kermit the Frog on The Late Late Show
    3. Re:how usable will this be? by FlyingOrca · · Score: 2, Informative

      Trucking is a lot cheaper than flying, considered on the basis of cost per kilo moved. That's why everything is expensive in the Arctic. Further south (by Arctic standards), parts of northern Manitoba are served by "winter roads" kind of like this. Once everything freezes up, it's a good way to move things.

      Interestingly, global warming is one possible culprit contributing to a recent problem: the weather "window" for winter roads is becoming more narrow. Bummer for the folks who live in places without alternatives besides air. At least in the Arctic, most places are accessible by sea-lift in the summer. Cheers!

      --
      Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges.
    4. Re:how usable will this be? by A55M0NKEY · · Score: 1
      There's nothing preventing some people from opening a new People's Republic of the South Pole where Marijuana was legal. There could be vast greenhouses where food was grown to giant proportions during the 6 month growing season of 24 hour sunshine. Imagine the buds on a plant that grew for 6 months before flowering?

      They could build the First City on an oil field and use that to run the lights to mine raw materials and to run the lights for the 6 months of darkness. ( I would recommend having their independence day on the June solstice so nobody has to wait for it to get dark to light off fireworks. ( those could be legal too since there's nothing but Ice to burn.

      --

      Eat at Joe's.

    5. Re:how usable will this be? by RailRide · · Score: 1
      History Channel's series Modern Marvels did an episode on Robinson Industries, a Canadian trucking firm that also builds/maintains ice highways during the winter months. The process is described here

      Of interest is how the truckers must travel at a certain speed when traveling over lakes and rivers. Seems that the truck's presence deflects the ice in such a way that creates pressure waves in the water underneath, such that if the truck approaches the shore too quickly, the pressure wave can actually blow out the ice in front of the truck as the wave hits the shore.

      ---PCJ

  8. Errrm. Antarctica last frontier of Earth? by Ayanami+Rei · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I don't know, we haven't terraformed the seabed very much. I thought deep water was the real last frontier of earth.

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    THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
  9. It's already Trashed by jazman_777 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I read a book called "Mind Over Matter" about a couple of guys who crossed Antarctica on foot (a good read, BTW). It's not a walk--they started out with 450-lb sledges they could barely move. When they got to the South Pole, the author commented on how dirty and trashy it looked there. Scientists, tourists (making a quick hop down to the Pole, I reckon).

    --
    Slashdot: Failed Car Analogies. Amateur Lawyering. Anecdote Battles.
    1. Re:It's already Trashed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting
      I know the book. The author is a complete primadonna jackass and hypocrite. A friend of mine was stationed in Antarctica when this fella came through. His book was all haughty and full of himself with statements like how disappointed he was to come over the crest and see the McMurdo station because of how it seemed to soil the pristine landscape. The truth is he took full advantage of the food and lodging of the bases down there. It wasn't quite the idealistic journey of an explorer as he likes to tell himself it was.

      If you want real, amazing tales of human spirit and exploration, you should read about Scott or Shackleton. I highly recommend the book Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing.

  10. Hm... by Coppit · · Score: 3, Funny

    Anyone else have the mental image of sliding down miles of ice in a toboggan?

  11. Tux by ByteSlicer · · Score: 1

    Splut! What's that sound? Damn! Ran over another penguin crossing the road :(

  12. Good news for that stranded pilot... by thelenm · · Score: 1

    That means that possibly as soon as 2006, that stranded Australian pilot can finally get home!

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    Use Ctrl-C instead of ESC in Vim!
  13. The best thing about this road by Texas+Rose+on+Lava+L · · Score: 2, Funny

    There's absolutely nothing in Antarctica for the cops to hide behind.

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    Rank Presidents by th

    1. Re:The best thing about this road by shfted! · · Score: 1

      I hadn't thought about that. Too bad my winter tires are only rated for 100 mph.

      --
      He who laughs last is stuck in a time dilation bubble.
    2. Re:The best thing about this road by Reneumann · · Score: 1

      yeah but in the absence of any enforced speed limit, I'm picturing myself revving up to 90mph, losing traction on the ice, going into a spin and slamming through the guardrail into the freezing ocean :-( *cries, scary*

  14. Dupe by 1u3hr · · Score: 2, Informative
    South Pole to Get Highway
    Posted by michael on Friday January 24, @10:21PM
    from the south-pole-highway-patrol-now-hiring dept.
    tetrad writes "The New Scientist magazine reports that the US is building a road to the South Pole. The "highway" would cross the Ross Ice Shelf and then pass through the Transantarctic Mountains (map here). Convoys of tractors will be the only traffic on the road, bringing fuel and heavy equipment to the South Pole, as well as enabling the installation of a $250M fibre-optic communications cable (discussed previously)."

    If this TV show adds anything to the story above (which I rather doubt), apologies.

  15. airplanes? by qtothemax · · Score: 1

    Isn't this why we have airplanes/helicopters? I'm sure its not easy to fly to the south pole, but it can't be any easier to drive there...

  16. test link by MajorG17 · · Score: 1

    test

  17. A question by g0bshiTe · · Score: 2, Funny

    Exactly who will pave the way so to speak for this highway? Who gets the bill, and who maintains it? Emporer Penguins?

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    I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
  18. YAY by programgeek · · Score: 0

    So tux racer will have more of a highway-feeling to it? :O If not, how does this affect me?

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    Georgia