Design Wanted For Antarctic Base 263
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.
What about... (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Igloos. (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Here... free... (Score:3, Insightful)
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.
Why not equip it with a system where it can periodically lift itself out of the ice, and move to another location. Heck, just put a crane down there in the equipment garage.
Also, love the Sig, but I like the P239 more than the P229.
Re:Where do they find these scientists? (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re:Obvious.. (Score:2, Insightful)
The reason why this won't work is rather obvious too.
The average snowfall at the site is around 150cm per year, nearly all of which settles. This means even if you stopped the snow settling on the roof the surrounding area would be 150cm higher each year. Very soon your base will find itself at the bottom of a deep hole.
Re:Prototype (Score:5, Insightful)
Polar Base Prototype [lugnet.com]
That link clearly says Arctic. They want a design for an Antarctic base. That would be the opposite side of the world. Sheesh.
Inverted Conical Foundation (Score:2, Insightful)
Make the foundation of the base an inverted cone. That way, inward pressure will push the base up, out of the snow. Additional upward force can be generated with hydraulics, and heaters could be used to melt the ice off of the surface, and reduce friction that would prevent the rise of the base up out of the snow.
Re:Igloos. (Score:4, Insightful)
Because it's the only example of completely desolate continent we have on this planet.
Why not declare, say, the congo to be a big protected park, and shift mining operations to antarctica, if you really care about the environment?
Because it costs more than ten times as much to run equipment in such an environment, not to mention the wages that would be demanded by the laborers. How much would you be willing to work for in Antarctica? I doubt it would be a minimum wage.
Even waste spills are less damaging, as you have hundreds of thousands of years to clean them up before they pollute the world's water supply
All the more reason to avoid doing it. Pollutants would be trapped by the currents encircling the continent, and build up at a rapid pace. Sure, they wouldn't mingle much with the rest of the ocean, but you'd be turning the Antarctic coastline into a toxic sludge dump. As you yourself mentioned, the coastline is a breeding ground for extremely diverse marine life. The last thing you want is a buildup of pollutants in that zone.
MAKE IT FLOAT!!! (Score:2, Insightful)
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