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BLÜCHER gets a grip on icy ground
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For almost 60 years The British Antarctic Survey (BAS), has had a presence on the Antarctic continent. Since the 1950’s scientists have studied at Halley station on the Brunt Ice shelf, originally built by The Royal Society.
Halley 1 started as a collection of wooden huts. After a series of extensions to the original buildings which culminated in the station being a multi story environment over 13 metres down from the surface, Halley 1 was abandoned in 1967 due to snow accumulation.
Snow accumulation continued to be an issue right up to Halley V which was built on jack able stilts and completed in 1992. However this didn’t stop the buildings migration towards the edge of the ice shelf due to calving (a process of ice breaking from the edge of the shelf) hence the requirement for Halley VI to be built.
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Halley VI has many benefits in design over its predecessors. The competition winning design by Faber Maunsell and Hugh Broughton Architects incorporates mechanical legs on skis so that the building can stay on the top of the surface as well as being moved to reduce the risk of loss due to calving.
BLÜCHER® EuroPipe has been chosen to connect the vacuum drainage system from the 8 modules that will make up Halley VI to the Microbac bioreactor sewage treatment plant that will be used. As the project will be built in an environment that is unique, BAS released a comprehensive environmental evaluation (CEE) for the
Construction of Halley VI. It set out in detail how the station will be constructed, operated and eventually removed in order to minimise the impact to the local environment.
Suppliers to the contract were asked to advise on the content of recycled and recyclable material used to the production of their items. In BLÜCHER®’s case around 70% recycled stainless steel is used to produce BLÜCHER® EuroPipe which is itself 100% recyclable.
The general specification for Halley VI called for the design life of the new facilities to be at least 20 years. An independent report produced by the Building Performance Group on behalf of BLÜCHER® showed that BLÜCHER® EuroPipe has an operational life in excess of 50 years.
The Lightweight BLÜCHER® EuroPipe was supplied to Merit Process Engineering Ltd in Cramlington who prefabricated the vacuum system that will be shipped to Cape Town to be fitted to the lower space frame.
Once the lower space frames have been installed with their mechanical and electrical components, they will then be shipped from Cape Town to Antarctica.
All construction works are scheduled to be complete at Halley VI by February 2010, with all services commissioned and all fixtures, fittings and equipment installed.
BAS will occupy the station during the 2009/10 season, installing and commissioning scientific equipment along with the commissioning of fixtures, fittings and services.
BAS plans to start scientific research and logistics operations at Halley VI during the 2009/10 season and expects Halley VI to remain operational until at least 2029.
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