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Design Wanted For Antarctic Base

Posted by simoniker on from the babylon-5-comparisons-ahoy dept.

colonist writes "According to the BBC, The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) have begun a major international competition to design a new scientific research station at Antarctica. The old station, Halley Research Station, was built in 1992 and its ice shelf will break off by 2010." According to the article: "The first four bases were built on the surface and gradually got covered with snow and ultimately got so deep they became crushed by the weight of ice and had to be replaced", though the "current base on stilts" fared better until the ice shelf problems.

18 of 263 comments (clear)

  1. Been done... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny


    Kurt Russell and his crew had a pretty nice place in The Thing, why not copy that? Just make sure you don't dig up any... you know.. weird things.

    1. Re:Been done... by Stargoat · · Score: 5, Funny

      Listen, lad. I built this research station up from nothing. When I started here, all there was an ice shelf. Other scientists said I was daft to build a research station on an iceshelf, but I built it all the same, just to show 'em. It sank into the water. So, I built a second one. That sank into the water. So, I built a third one. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the water, but the fourth one... stayed up! And that's what you're gonna get, lad: the strongest research station in these here ice shelves.

      --
      Hoist Number One and Number Six.
  2. Igloos. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    That way, you would not have to transport any building materials except maybe shovels and saws.

    1. Re:Igloos. by Sepper · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yeah, but if you do that, you will have to answer on my Canadian patent on 'Building constructed out of carefully selected blocks of frozen material'

      Serioulsy, I have high hopes for a Canadian or Russian design...

      --
      I live in Soviet Canuckistan you insensitive clod!
    2. Re:Igloos. by TamMan2000 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Still have the same problem of getting covered in snow and crushed.

      I don't think so... I think they would get covered in snow and get stronger. one of the beauties of a dome is that it can take huge loads provided that they are fairly uniform. Getting covered in snow is very uniform loading. Snow, when under enough presure turns in to ice. Ice is the material the igloo is made of. I am pretty sure that the igloo walls would just thicken with time.

      You would still have to worry about shifting ice causing asymetric loading of your dome.

      Also you couldn't make it one big igloo, it would have to an interconected network of smaller ones. The thickness of wall required to construct an unsuported span (dome in this case) is pretty damn non-linear, and it would not be practicle to build ice walls large enough to support big rooms, when you could just make 4 smaller ones, and get twice the space...

      --
      "I'll have a Guinness, no wait, make that a Coors Light" -Grad student I work with, who shall remain anonymous...
    3. Re:Igloos. by FlyingOrca · · Score: 5, Informative

      Igloos are made of snow, actually. You just have to find the right snow: a drift at least 60 cm deep and very hard packed by the wind. Then you cut blocks with a snowknife (a saw works surprisingly well, too). And yeah, I've built plenty of 'em.

      You're right in saying you can't build them too big, though; I'd guess about 3 metres at the peak would be a practical limit. They're good for storage, and surprisingly warm and comfortable if the cracks are stuffed with snow.

      Back to the base - I think the stilts idea is a good one. I'd modify it though, so the stilts terminate in some kind of long, chain-driven, very deeply threaded screws (almost like an ice auger if you're ever seen one). Snow piling up and compacting into ice? Use a very slow gear to back the screws out a metre or two.

      In the arctic, OTOH, we used plain old pre-fab panels (plywood sandwich with 10 cm of foam insulation in between) on beams. The beams in turn were laid on a really simple foundation: cardboard boxes placed over exposed bedrock and filled with more foam. Once the foam hardens it stays in place, and you saw all the tops to the same level.

      We got snow up to the roof pretty reliably every winter, but it melted in the summer. I guess they can't count on that down south, though. Cheers!

      --
      Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges.
  3. Prototype by boomgopher · · Score: 4, Funny

    Here you go, hot off the presses:
    Polar Base Prototype

    --
    Your hybrid is not saving the environment. Its purpose is to make you feel good about buying something.
    1. Re:Prototype by NickDngr · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Here you go, hot off the presses:
      Polar Base Prototype

      That link clearly says Arctic. They want a design for an Antarctic base. That would be the opposite side of the world. Sheesh.

      --
      Yoda of Borg am I! Assimilated shall you be! Futile resistance is, hmm?
  4. Obligatory AYB by Eberlin · · Score: 5, Funny

    They need a new design because currently, All Your Base Are Belong To Ice.

  5. Easy one by Tibor+the+Hun · · Score: 5, Funny

    They can build them above the ground again, only this time use steel beams and concrete, as opposed to cardboard.
    Don't get me wrong, good ol' corrugated is a fine building material for forts and tree houses, but for a scientific station that is supposed to get covered with ice, one should invest into some steel.

    That's my two cents, anyway...

    --
    If you don't know what AltaVista is (was), get off my lawn.
  6. Terrorist proof by uberfruk · · Score: 4, Funny

    FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY:

    The base must be terrorist proof, with extra security, metal detectors, and the ability to survive a impact from an airliner.

  7. Here... free... by nametaken · · Score: 5, Interesting

    1) Put in the water, on pylons. Concrete ice-breaker pylons like they use on bridges.

    or maybe..

    2) Don't fight the mounting ice. Use a modular, extendable lift system, and build down into the ice. Much like the ice caves they build into glaciers, but with structural reinforcement and climate control + serious bilge pumps. Your computers will love it down there.

  8. Re:Antarctic Base... by NanoGator · · Score: 4, Funny

    "All Your Antarctic Base Are Belong To Us!"

    1999 called. The copyright on this joke hasn't expired yet.

    --
    "Derp de derp."
  9. Submarine style? by Barumpus · · Score: 4, Interesting

    With out knowing the physical limitations or the like from the average submarine, why not use something of this style. The deepest diving subs can tolerate pressures on the hull far that of the average structure on land. Could something of this general style sustain the pressures exerted by a large amount of snow piled on top of it? Plus it would have the added benefit of being able to handle the under water conditions after the next ledge breaks off sending the base into the cold seas.

    1. Re:Submarine style? by myowntrueself · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yes!

      Drag one of those old Soviet 'Typhoon' class subs up onto the ice shelf, complete with reactors (though maybe without the missiles) and set it up as a base in antarctica! And declare (if one *did* keep the missiles) the Autonomous Anonymous Anarchic Antarctic Republic!

      --
      In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
  10. gradually got covered with snow and got crushed by Grand · · Score: 4, Funny

    maybe then need to invest in some shovels.

  11. Re:Where do they find these scientists? by tehdaemon · · Score: 4, Insightful
    And eventually have to throw the snow over the 50+ foot snow banks that surround the base. You also need the base to be able to move, or jack the base up and pile the snow under it.

    The catch here is that the 'ground' is constantly rising because the snow never melts. Simply removing the snow will result in the base being in a big pit. Oh, and it does nothing for the ice breaking part.

    (Hmmm, then nix the pile the snow under it part, the base has to move somehow...)

    note: this post is directed at the dozens of 'shovel the snow' posts, not just yours.

    --
    Laws are horrible moral guides, moral guides make even worse laws.
  12. Re:Antarctic Base... by NanoGator · · Score: 4, Funny

    " Thoughts?"

    Boobs.

    --
    "Derp de derp."