Specialist teams are arriving at Rothera Research Station to start a new season of construction at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).
BAS is working with BAM, Ramboll and other specialist companies to build a new research and operations facility at its Rothera Station on Adelaide Island, just below the Antarctic Circle.
Rothera Research Station is one of the world’s most extreme construction sites, with fluctuating temperatures and periods of extreme cold ranging from minus 22 to plus 15 deg C.
This season’s focus is to complete the Discovery Building, a purpose-built scientific operations facility that will support the whole of the Rothera Research Station. It is two storeys high, 90m long, and covers 4,500 sq m.
Teamwork
The construction teams arriving at Rothera will first clear the large amount of snow that has accumulated over the Antarctic winter.
From November, they will complete the inside of the Discovery Building and externally, the wind deflector and the roof.
The facility will undergo testing of critical systems so that it is ready to hand over to BAS in April 2025. Essential work will also be taking place across the rest of the station.
BAS partners in this project include BAM, Ramboll, Sweco, G&A Barnie, Turner & Townsend and Hugh Broughton Architects.
The Antarctic Infrastructure Modernisation Programme at Rothera Research Station began in January 2017. BAS has utilised the expertise and knowledge of the companies involved in the project and their extended supply chains to ensure the success of delivering complex engineering solutions in the world’s harshest environment.
Johannes Smit, construction manager at BAM, said: “We’ve made significant progress in the Antarctic to bring this building to completion. Our dedicated team even worked through the winter season to prepare for commissioning, and we’re now focused on connecting and fine-tuning all systems.”
