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			BUILDINGS AND HEAT
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BUILDING MOVEMENT
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QUESTION: We have seen that the South Pole marker must be moved 
every year because the ice moves 9 meters toward the sea. Do the 
buildings at the South Pole also move?

ANSWER from Lisa Gahagan on January 19, 1995
The South Pole is a position superimposed on the surface of the Earth. 
If the mountains were highest under the South Pole, then the ice should 
flow away in all directions with the ice directly under the position of 
the South Pole not moving. In real life, the South Pole is not on an ice 
divide or dome. It is about 170 km from Titan Dome [88=B030'S, 
165=B000'E]. Titan Dome is much like a high point on the Continental 
Divide of the United States where water that falls to the east of the 
Continental Divide flows into the Atlantic Ocean, and water that falls 
to the west flows into the Pacific. So the South Pole is really 
downslope from the ice divide and the ice and everything on it, 
including buildings, are flowing 9 meters a year, approximately 
northwest. 

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CONSTRUCTION
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QUESTION: What kind of foundations do you use for the buildings?

ANSWER from Jon E. Rinkenberger, December 19, 1994
Here at McMurdo Station we build buildings on dirt. In the early years 
of the program the builders used big wooden timbers as foundations. 
Sometimes they are still used, but more often we use concrete 
foundations that are made back in the U.S. and shipped down here. It 
is too cold here to pour concrete.  

At the South Pole Station we build buildings on the ice. The main type 
of foundation is wooden timbers. They are easier to build and more 
practical, and flying other types in would be too costly. Since it is so 
cold at the South Pole, the ice never melts. The main concern is 
blowing and drifting snow that covers the buildings.

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DOME
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QUESTION: How much longer will the dome at the South Pole stand?

ANSWER from Guy Guthridge on February 10, 1995
The dome at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station could be made to last 
many years if snow drift is plowed away from it from time to time. 
However, the buildings under the dome, which were erected in 1975, 
are wearing out and will have to be replaced in the next few years. 
Also, the station was built for a population of 35, but more than 125 
now need to do and support science at the South Pole; this is another 
reason the dome probably will be retired when the new station is built.

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ELECTRICITY
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QUESTION: How do you get electricity down in Antarctica?

ANSWER from Chris Hanson on January 11, 1995
In McMurdo and at the South Pole we have our own power plants. At 
McMurdo we have a power plant with 6 big turbocharged engines that 
each turn a generator of their own. (These engines are made by the 
same people that make Caterpillar graders, end-loaders and 
construction equipment.) During the summer there are usually 3 or 4 
of these engines and generators running at once to power to whole 
town. They run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They burn diesel 
fuel that is brought down on a tanker ship once a year and kept in 
enormous tanks on the hillside just up from town. Smaller locations in 
Antarctica usually run off of portable motors and generators, or 
sometimes solar power. The radio-telephones that the remote field 
camps use to keep in contact with us are each powered by a solar 
panel. Solar power is very cheap, and it's practical when the sun is up 
24 hours a day! 

At Black Island, our satellite communications facility begins 40 miles 
from McMurdo. We use many sources of power. Solar panels, wind-
turbine generators, and fueled motor generators all contribute to the 
overall supply. A huge room of batteries stores excess power from the 
solar and wind systems. If the solar and wind aren't producing enough, 
we use the batteries. When there isn't enough juice in the batteries, we 
fire up the generators.

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HEAT
********

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QUESTION: How do you heat the stations? What source of heat do 
you use?

ANSWER from Guy Guthridge on January 13, 1995 
At McMurdo, a diesel fuel called JP-8 (with an additive to make it 
flow at low temperatures) fires forced-air furnaces in some buildings 
and hot water furnaces in others. Some warehouse buildings are not 
heated.

At South Pole, waste heat from the diesel (JP-8) powered electrical 
generators heats a glycol-water mixture that is circulated to the 
buildings under the dome and the steel arches. A new buildingthe 
elevated dormitoryis heated by solar panels supplemented by a 
diesel-fueled furnace.

At Palmer, waste heat from the diesel generators provides some of the 
heat, and forced-air furnaces provides the rest.

The U.S. Antarctic Program is continually exploring ways to save fuel 
or use alternative energy sources. Wind power and solar power are 
used at smaller installations such as the satellite ground station on 
Black Island near McMurdo, and at automated (unmanned) weather 
stations. Newer kinds of insulation such as closed-cell foam are 
making it possible to use energy more efficiently.

Loss of heat in Antarctica is life-threatening, so the highest priorities 
for heating systems in Antarctica are reliability and ease of repair. In 
that regard, at the year-round stations conventional systems such as 
those now used still hold the edge over alternative sources. One 
knowledgeable person once observed, "The U.S. Antarctic Program 
runs on fuel." Someday, when such technologies as windmills and 
photovoltaic cells are proved in the rigorous conditions of Antarctica, 
that statement probably will no longer be true.

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QUESTION: How do you manage your indoor heater? If you use 
fossil fuels, where do you get them?

ANSWER from Jon E. Rinkenberger on Feb. 2
The majority of the furnaces that we use here burn JP-8. JP-8 is diesel 
fuel with a additive for cold weather use. This fuel and others are 
delivered to us by a fuel tanker. The tanker just recently finished 
refueling us here at McMurdo Station for the next year. The furnaces 
are maintained by specially trained personnel. They perform monthly 
maintenance on the furnaces to ensure each is working efficiently.

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QUESTION: What kind of energy do you use to heat your tents?

ANSWER From Dr. Castellini on January 12, 1995
Almost all of the heating that we use in the Antarctic is from oil-
burning furnaces. This is diesel oil that is brought to McMurdo from 
ships each January. We take it out to the camps in 55-gallon drums and 
then pump it from the drums to our heating tanks. The oil-burning 
stoves can be quite warm, and in many cases, especially by mid-
summer, we have to turn them down as low as they can go or else the 
camps gets too HOT!

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QUESTION: What insulation is used to keep buildings warm?

ANSWER from Jon E. Rinkenberger on December 19, 1994
The insulation we use down here is the same type builders use back 
home. We just use more of it, about two times as much depending on 
what type of building it is. There are many special ways we build 
down here in this cold environment. 

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ICE HOUSES
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QUESTION: How often are ice houses or ice shelters used in 
Antarctica?

ANSWER from Deane Rink, January 3, 1995
There are no native peoples living in Antarctica, so igloos or ice 
shelters have never evolved as living devices. When the first explorers 
came here, they generally built their shelters of wood or other modern 
construction materials.

However, the art of building igloos and ice shelters is taught to 
everybody who ventures into the field down here, by mountaineer 
guides who conduct several types of safety training on a regular basis. 
If an emergency occurs and a person is separated from their means of 
transportation or tent, that person should know emergency survival 
procedures. Igloos, and even simpler snow trenches that shelter 
someone from the wind, are commonplace survival techniques. When I 
first trained for Antarctica ten years ago, I had to build an igloo and 
camp out in it for one night to pass the snow-craft course, and it's a 
good feeling to know how to do this if anything unexpected were to 
happen, because on the ice, one never knows!

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QUESTION: If you had to build an igloo for survival, how long would 
it take? How is the roof kept up in an igloo? Would you eat snow in an 
igloo?

ANSWER from Terry Trimingham on February 8, 1995
An igloo is a pretty neat structure. You can stay out of the wind and be 
relatively comfortable by just putting together some blocks made of 
snow! However, it does involve cutting out snow blocks, knowing what 
angle to put them at, packing snow in the cracks, and using great care 
in what you are doing.

The roof is held up by the way the snow blocks are angled to lean 
against each other. You lay the blocks around and around in a spiral, 
each one leans on the others, and it gradually curves inward if you do 
it right. The time it takes to make an igloo depends on how big of an 
igloo you want to make. To make one that would sleep 2 to 3 people, it 
would probably take about 6 hours (or more). Because it takes so long 
to make an igloo, they are rarely erected for survival purposes here in 
Antarctica. Instead, we either use tents, or make "quincys" by 
shoveling snow over a mound of luggage, then packing the snow 
down, and then pulling out the luggage and voila, a little hollow 
mound you can crawl in.

We don't eat snow, but we do melt it so that we can have something to 
drink and cook with.

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PLUMBING
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QUESTION: How does temperature affect plumbing?

ANSWER from Deane Rink
Cold temperatures will freeze pipes anywhere, and Antarctica is no 
exception. But the big bases like McMurdo have boilers and generators 
to keep the pipes permanently open, and the smaller camps rarely use 
pipes; they melt their drinking water from snow or ice and collect their 
human waste in barrels for shipping back to McMurdo and eventually 
the USA.

ANSWER from John Rinkenberger on Janaury 13, 1995:
The temperature is a constant concern when designing the buildings
and the utility system here in McMurdo.  Most of the indoor plumbing is
typical of that back in the US.  Plumbing that is outdoors has to be
designed so it will not freeze.  The most common design is external
insulation with heat trace wrapped around the pipe.  Heat trace is a
electrical wire that emits heat that keeps the pipe from freezing.  The
utility system is designed so that the sewer and water lines are above
ground.  This allows for easy access and detection of leaks and freezing
pipes.

ANSWER from Eugene Miya on June 8, 1995:
In addition, this has other interesting consequences, like fighting fires.
You just can't use simple water.  Water freezes and storage becomes a
problem. 

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TENTS
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QUESTION: What kind of material is used to make the tents that you 
use in the remote camps? 

ANSWER: by Buck Tilley, one of the survival instructors at the Berg 
Field Center in McMurdo.
Scott tents come in two parts. The outer shell is made of canvas or 
Dacron sail cloth. The inner canopy is made of nomex for fire-
proofness. Both of these shells are breathable. As you might guess, 
breathable materials make life far more comfortable and dry in 
Antarctica than either Gortex or coated materials. Scott tents are 
supported by four rigid poles and are somewhat teepee-shaped.

__________
QUESTION: How big are the tents that you take with you to the 
remote camps?

ANSWER: by Buck Tilley, one of the survival instructors at the Berg 
Field Center in McMurdo.
Scott tents are considered to be 3- or 4-man tents. However, usually no 
more than 2 people sleep in them. With only two people, there is room 
for cooking and for equipment storage. These tents are tall enough to 
stand up in if you are standing in the center of the tent.

Dome-shaped mountain tents can accommodate, in a squeeze, up to 
three people. For comfort, usually these are occupied by only one 
person. These tents are short enough that you have to put your pants on 
while lying down.

__________
QUESTION: In one report you said that you have to actually pitch a 
tent on the ice when you go to the camps. Do you put anything on the 
bottom of the tent so that you don't have to sleep on the ice? Also, how 
many layers of clothing do you have to wear when you sleep at the 
remote camps in the tents?

ANSWER: by Buck Tilley, one of the survival instructors at the Berg 
Field Center in McMurdo.
When we pitch tents on the ice, we don't put anything down first. 
Mountain tents have built-in nylon floors. Scott tents have detachable 
floors. We usually sleep on thin foam pads. Most people sleep in their 
long-Johns.

*******
WIND
*******

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QUESTION: How do the walls of tents and buildings stay up with the 
severe winds? How are they made to withstand the wind?

ANSWER from Jon E. Rinkenberger on January 18, 1995:
The winds here at McMurdo Station can be very strong at times. When 
the wind is blowing it makes the temperature a lot colder than if there 
were no wind. The wind can affect many things herethe important 
ones are the buildings and tents where people live.

The main concern about wind when designing buildings is blowing 
and drifting snow. We design the buildings so that the wind will blow 
around or underneath them. Most new buildings are built up off the 
ground. This allows the wind move freely under the building, carrying 
the snow with it. We also try to place entrances so they are not in the 
direct path of the wind. This helps conserve heat and energy. All parts 
of the exterior walls and roof are securely fastened down. This keeps 
the wind from blowing them off the building.  

Tents are use most often out at the field camps. When setting tents up, 
special care is taken to make sure that it is securely anchored to the 
ground. In most cases, the ropes that hold the tent are attached to a 
stake. These stakes are then buried to provide more holding power. 
When properly set up and anchored, these tents can withstand strong 
winds.

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QUESTION: Have any of the buildings on stilts ever collapsed due to 
high winds?

ANSWER from Guy Guthridge on February 10, 1995
No U.S. structure has ever collapsed from the wind. We also are not 
aware of such a collapse at another nation's station. One factor here is 
that winds in the Antarctic interior (including South Pole Station and 
Russia's Vostok Station) are not severe. The highest wind ever 
recorded at the South Pole was 49 knots.