Phil has been a member of WGAM for some time. It was rather appropriate therefore that he gave a presentation on Antarctica, just after the latest COP27 talks held in Egypt. The presentation was centered on the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and Phil’s involvement in the choice of architects who won a competition for the design of Halley V Phil was chosen for the task due to his extensive knowledge and experience as a civil engineer. The competition’s aim was to whittle away at the many entries until the three most appropriate designs were selected and thereafter civil engineers were selected to prepare and build the one successful design. The BAS site in Antarctica is on the Brunt ice shelf which is next to the Weddell sea. In 1945 the first Halley station was established and was termed Halley 1. Shackleton first explored Antarctica in 1901 and recently his ‘shack’ along with Robert Falcon Scott’s Discovery Hut on Ross Island, was refurbished as a museum piece.
The early Halley stations never survived very long. Quite simply their structures, despite being of a variety of designs, could not withstand the snow building up in the winter, followed by the pressure of the moving ice. Halley V lasted very well, however, a replacement was eventually needed and hence the competition. The last three in the competition each built a ‘mock up’ prior to the eventual winner being chosen. Halley V1 is built on jackable hydraulic legs with snow shoes and this enables the pods to be moved easily and jacked up to allow the snow to be removed from underneath each pod in the summer. Initially a sample of the winning design was created in the UK to ‘iron out’, any issues that may be encountered in Antarctica. All modules were then manufactured in the UK, with exception of the cladding, which was made in South Africa. Once the engineers were satisfied that the pod assembly would work, all the kit required to carry out the full assembly in Antarctica, was itemised and crated for shipment. This was no mean task, as any item forgotten or not included, could end up seriously delaying the build. Once loaded onto the appropriate ship, a group of specialists were flown out to site, to prepare for the arrival of all the kit. The ship has to be able to sit alongside the ice shelf and the equipment then unloaded and dragged up a pre-prepared snow ramp, using very powerful tracked machinery.
The early Halley stations never survived very long. Quite simply their structures, despite being of a variety of designs, could not withstand the snow building up in the winter, followed by the pressure of the moving ice. Halley V lasted very well, however, a replacement was eventually needed and hence the competition. The last three in the competition each built a ‘mock up’ prior to the eventual winner being chosen. Halley V1 is built on jackable hydraulic legs with snow shoes and this enables the pods to be moved easily and jacked up to allow the snow to be removed from underneath each pod in the summer. Initially a sample of the winning design was created in the UK to ‘iron out’, any issues that may be encountered in Antarctica. All modules were then manufactured in the UK, with exception of the cladding, which was made in South Africa. Once the engineers were satisfied that the pod assembly would work, all the kit required to carry out the full assembly in Antarctica, was itemised and crated for shipment. This was no mean task, as any item forgotten or not included, could end up seriously delaying the build.
