Friday 6 January 2012

Tower Raising


This is our Clean area lab - known as CASLAB, it is used for air chemistry and for air to ice energy transfer studies. The whole area around it is kept very clean; normally no vehicles come within 1km of it and even then only in the direction that the wind doesn't blow from. About once every couple of years we have to use a crane to get new legs onto the CASLAB but we try very hard to do everything in the clean area without vehicles.


There is a tall tower next to the CASLAB, 31.5m high, which will have lots of scientific instruments placed upon it. Like all things at Halley, the snow accumulation reduces its height by about 1m or so a year and it needs raising to keep the instruments at the correct height.


This tower has a clever way of extending that doesn't need any vehicles. A frame is wrapped around the tower.


The tower sections are then unbolted from each other and the tower winched up in the frame.



Then a new section is bolted in the gap.


The frame is removed, and volia the Tower is now 1.5m higher at 33m. Here is the team - me, I am the one in the orange boiler suit and orange helmet.




2 comments:

  1. Greetings Mike, My name is Juan Sebastián Victoria Bolívar. I am a student of Mechanical Engineering at the Universidad Autónoma de Occidente in Cali, Colombia. I am finishing my undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering. I am doing an institutional internship for Aerospace Technology Research Center (CITAE). I will be doing a telecommunication Antenna and I want to investigate which materials are appropriate for the temperature and wind conditions in the antarctic. For the design process of the telecommunication tower, I would appreciate if you could give me some technical information in structural materials, for low temperatures that I could apply. Nothing less, I want to thank you Mike for the help and attention given for my undergraduate investigation.

    Best regards,
    Juan Sebastian Victoria Bolívar.

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  2. PS. What structural material did you use for the tower?

    ReplyDelete