Drilling and Fixing Anchoring Bars into Utsteinen’s Ridge
Working on top of the Nunatak is not an enviable job: the wind comes in from the east and constantly blows your way. Some time ago, the thermometer on top of the rocks indicated -24 degrees Celsius, with gusts of wind reaching 50 km/hour.
As the drilling work is an essential step in the station's construction, it cannot be interrupted. The drillers have decided to work nightshifts too ... Aside from the harsh wind and temperatures, the work in itself is also very demanding: the whole drilling installation often has to be disassembled and moved over the rock slope; some parts of the installation are so heavy that it takes 6 people to drag them over. Several drill chucks and hammers have already broken off on the frozen granite rocks.
In order to anchor the bars into the drilling holes to give the station good foundations, special resin has to be used. Over 50 bars will have to be placed either vertically or at a certain inclination before the building construction can begin above the ground. Now that the holes are all done, 7 of these bars have been put into place. Several of them are installed every day. The garage is completed as well, but much work still has to be done before the 120 containers arrive with the modules on the coast, towards mid-December.
Picture: Working on the ridge - © International Polar Foundation