Lifting the Station’s Annexes
As the team has been putting the finishing touches on the station’s new annexes, this past week they also got a lift thanks to a new system they installed last season that can help keep the two annexes level as the glacier beneath them moves and recedes over time.
-
To put the original support block back into place, the team constructs a lighter, portable support block to temporarily support the annexes while metal workers do maintenance on the original support.
© International Polar Foundation
-
Several members of the team move a temporary support block from beam to beam while the main support blocks undergo maintenance.
© International Polar Foundation
-
When the original foundation support block is back in place, workers use a level to help the supports blocks slide smoothly with the glacier underneath.
© International Polar Foundation
-
Pierre Dumont uses a blue piston (which can lift up to 50 tonnes) to lift the annexes. The annexes only need to be lifted a few centimetres to become level.
© International Polar Foundation
-
As the glacier retreats, the support blocks attached to the glacier retreat. Here, Pierre Dumont adds metal beams to keep the annexes level.
© International Polar Foundation
-
The lighter, portable support block is useful for maintaining of the original ones. Once in place, a piston will be installed on the large foundation chair, and it will be in use for several years.
© International Polar Foundation
-
It is necessary to do a lot of metal work in order to reinforce the top of each support block to allow the glacier to slide smoothly underneath the building.
© International Polar Foundation
-
As the glacier retreats, the support blocks drop over time. Minor height adjustments are possible by adding metal plates to the top of the support blocks. However, when a significant drop in height occurs, it becomes necessary to add additional I-beams to the top of the support blocks.
© International Polar Foundation
-
The new metal workshop is put to good use preparing all the metal parts necessary for lifting the annexes.
© International Polar Foundation
-
Here a metal working expert uses a plasma cutter to cut through thick sheets of metal while preparing necessary additions to the annexes' support blocks.
© International Polar Foundation
-
The general support structures are now in place, ready to gently slide under the staiton's annexes over the next few years. The piston sits on the support block so it can raise the annexes when necessary.
© International Polar Foundation
-
At the end of the expedition, another lift is done to prepare the station for overwintering. During eight months the station will be empty, it is estimated that the glacier below the annexes will lose estimated 8-10 cm.
© International Polar Foundation
-
Tom the carpenter measures the necessary lift of the station using a rotation laser to level all the parts of the building.
© International Polar Foundation
-
Expedition leader Alain Huber and Tom the carpenter work together using the newly installed lift system for the station's annexes. Only one day of work is necessary to lift the station's north and south annexes.
© International Polar Foundation
-
One final metal plate makes sure the station is at the correct level. The pistons' pressure can be released to leave the annex sit on its supports until next season, when the incoming team will evaluate how to adjust the height of the station's annexes.
© International Polar Foundation
