黑洞社区

鈥淚鈥檝e always done a little bit of sailing, but coming to the Southern Ocean has been quite a different experience,鈥� says Elen Jones. The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) programme director is on the RRS Sir David Attenborough on her way back home from her first trip to Antarctica. The 拢200m research vessel has just passed South Georgia, a remote archipelago in the middle of some of the world鈥檚 roughest seas.

 

Speaking to 黑洞社区 over a surprisingly clear phone line, she reports that the conditions are 鈥渜uite bumpy鈥� but nothing the ship cannot sail through. On her trip south, it had faced 140km/h winds, enough to cause 鈥渆xtreme destruction鈥� according to the Beaufort wind force scale. 鈥淭hat was鈥� yeah, interesting,鈥� she says.

 

Jones has been overseeing the 拢100m modernisation of the BAS鈥� Rothera research station, where a huge 4,500m² operations and science facility 鈥� the Discovery 黑洞社区 鈥� is currently being built. Due to the severity of the Antarctic winter, which starts in May, work can only be carried out during a five-month window each year. Now in its fifth season, the project has already seen the erection of the two-storey building鈥檚 steel frame and the construction of a wharf.

 

Working in the most extreme continent possible just added to the appeal of coming to do it

Elen Jones, BAS programme director

This year, in which the building should be made weather-tight, has been described by BAS as the most challenging yet. It is an experience which Jones has clearly relished.

 

鈥淚nfrastructure project delivery is my passion,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檝e done infrastructure work for a long time, and this is another step on that. But working in the most extreme continent possible, I think, just added to the appeal of coming to do it.鈥�

 

>> Also read: 黑洞社区 at the bottom of the world: British Antarctic Survey鈥檚 Rothera Research Station

 

Another appeal has been the sense of being part of something bigger, she says, by supporting the BAS鈥� internationally significant polar research into climate change and net zero. Everyone on the project shares the same drive 鈥� 鈥渢o be able to take real pride in what you鈥檝e delivered. To say, 鈥榣ook at what I鈥檝e done鈥�. You鈥檙e gonna have something really tangible. And we all want to have pride in what we do.鈥�

The project team working with BAS includes main contractor BAM with their team, design consultants Sweco and Hugh Broughton Architects providing delivery design. Ramboll is acting as BAS鈥� technical advisors with architects NORR providing concept design and Turner & Townsend providing cost management. 

 

They arrived on site in late November. Some had travelled by boat, others on commercial flights to the southern tip of Chile via Madrid and Sao Paulo before catching a BAS-owned turboprop to Rothera on the Antarctic peninsula.

 

Their first task on arrival was to clear the massive piles of snow which had accumulated during the winter, a task which took around four weeks. This was followed by the installation of the Discovery 黑洞社区鈥檚 first floor slab.

 

The 50-strong team are now racing against the clock to install cladding on the building鈥檚 frame before the colder weather sets in. If the envelope is left partially finished at the end of the season, high winds could get into the interior of the building over the winter and rip off the panels. 

 

What would happen if the team runs out of time? 鈥淲e try not to think about that,鈥� says Jones.

 

One failsafe, which has been built into the construction plan, is the option of not cutting out the window sections from the cladding panels and leaving that until next season. 

 

There have already been setbacks. For three weeks in January tools were downed as the team battled with rough weather. This happened during what is usually the summer鈥檚 sweet spot, when the weather is mildest. But people there have learnt to be flexible and 鈥渕ake hay while the sun shines,鈥� says Bam site agent Robert Kerr, who speaks to 黑洞社区 over a crackly phone line from Rothera.

 

鈥淲e have a really good bunch of guys out here who have a good understanding of how to get the job built, who would probably work through anything if you asked them to,鈥� he says. But there are still days when they can鈥檛 work at all.

 

When this happens, the working week, usually Monday to Saturday, is changed so the day off can be taken when the weather is bad.

 

This year has a lot of challenges which we haven鈥檛 dealt with in previous seasons

Robert Kerr, Bam site agent

This is Kerr鈥檚 second season at Rothera. He came back because 鈥渙nce you start, it can be hard to leave鈥�.

 

He adds that 鈥渋t鈥檚 an incredible place to work, a really good team and extremely enjoyable鈥�, although he admits that the weather can occasionally be 鈥渂rutal鈥�. 

 

By all accounts the workload has stepped up this season. 鈥淲ithout a doubt this year has a lot of challenges which we haven鈥檛 dealt with in previous seasons,鈥� Kerr says. One of these is the sheer size of the Discovery 黑洞社区 and the quantity of cladding that needs to be finished within the limited time. 

 

This has been a lesson learnt for future designs, admits Ramboll project manager Bruce Wulff. Two buildings would be less risky to build within the small construction window as one could be made fully weathertight with the fit-out started if there is time left over. 

 

Another challenge, familiar to veterans of the project, is the abundance of wildlife. There are so many penguins milling around Rothera that 鈥渟ometimes you鈥檙e just tripping over them鈥�, Wulff says. They are also extremely curious, often 鈥渨alking right up to you and standing at your feet, looking up at you.鈥�

 

This unusual site hazard is one which teams are briefed on before they travel down. Although they rarely venture into the construction area, there is also clearly a risk to the penguins themselves.

 

While staff have sometimes needed to 鈥渞elocate them鈥�, says Jones, 鈥渋t鈥檚 more being aware that they are in the vicinity 鈥� and we have to recognise we are in their environment鈥�.

 

A more serious problem is the elephant seals. The males, at up to 6m long and almost four tonnes 鈥� double the weight of the average walrus 鈥� can be aggressive and highly territorial. But the main issue at Rothera seems to be their habit of falling asleep on construction materials which have been left outside.

 

鈥淭hey鈥檙e fond of surfaces like timber,鈥� Kerr says. 鈥淵ou need to watch how you handle materials and make sure you don鈥檛 leave things out, because it will soon be used as a deck chair.鈥� Earlier in the season one site worker left the lid of a timber box on the site, only to return later to find a sea lion parked on it.

 

The tried and tested solution to this is employing a stick known as a 鈥渂odger鈥�, which can be used to prod them out of the way. It is also handy for warding off the more belligerent specimens which can be found on other BAS stations, like Bird Island in South Georgia.

 

鈥淚f you鈥檙e walking around on Bird Island, then you鈥檙e advised to take a stick with you,鈥� Wulff says. 

 

Dealing with seals and penguins is priced in for most people who make the trip to Rothera. What they might not expect is how comfortable it is to live there.

 

鈥淭he first time I went, I didn鈥檛 really know what to expect 鈥� and I was half hoping to be living in small timber huts,鈥� says Wulff, who is also back for his second season. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 very far from that. It鈥檚 almost like an office building you would have in the UK.鈥�

 

A surprisingly wide range of extracurricular activities is on offer for the team, including a music room, a climbing wall, a library and a room filled with various types of skis for tackling different terrains. There is also an established room dedicated to fancy dress, where costumes accumulated over decades are carefully alphabetised.

 

鈥淚t鈥檚 probably the most ordered room on the site,鈥� Wulff says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something that鈥檚 happened over time 鈥� where people dress up for Christmas and people bring down a dinosaur outfit or something and then just leave it there for the generations to come.鈥� 

 

Fancy dress has become so frequent at Rothera that 鈥測ou can just be having a nice drink in the bar and, before you know it, someone goes away and comes back dressed as a Rubik鈥檚 cube,鈥� says Wulff. When he visited the station for his first season in 2016, and interviewed BAS staff on the changes they wanted, removing the fancy dress room was firmly off the cards.

 

It does have a serious purpose, which is keeping up the morale of those who live there for up to 18 months at a time, including through the winter months of 24-hour darkness when the station is reduced to a skeleton crew.

 

You鈥檙e going to one of the most isolated places in the world, but it actually feels quite intense and it鈥檚 hard to get time on your own

Bruce Wulff, Ramboll project manager

After completing a training course on how to survive in the wild, team members are free in the evenings and on days off to pick up a pair of skis and head into the mountains. Surprisingly for such a remote location, this is among the best ways to get time to yourself, says Wulff.

 

鈥淵ou鈥檙e going to one of the most isolated places in the world, but it actually feels quite intense and it鈥檚 hard to get time on your own because you are just living in this small compound. You can鈥檛 get away from people, you鈥檙e eating breakfast and lunch and dinner with everybody, you鈥檙e sleeping in a room of two or four people, so actually having time on your own isn鈥檛 that easy.鈥�

 

The atmosphere at the station during the summer is almost like a ski season. It is a relatively young crowd who often want to try something different. The sense of shared adventure is also key to the collaborative spirit of the modernisation project.

 

鈥淚n terms of friendships, relationships that we鈥檝e developed, you can鈥檛 compare it to any other contract that I鈥檝e ever worked on,鈥� says Kerr. 鈥淲e organise weekends away, camping in the Scottish islands. You just generally don鈥檛 do that on other contracts.鈥� 

 

That collaboration extends to the team structure. Between Ramboll, Sweco, Bam and BAS, the best person is chosen for the role 鈥� regardless of where they come from. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not precious about who that person is,鈥� says Wulff.

 

鈥淎 lot of big projects talk about being collaborative and partnering, but we definitely are walking the walk here.鈥�