international
polar
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We just lived a historical moment here in Brussels, as we received a phone call from Utsteinen base camp. Alain Hubert phoned to say that the last exterior module was mounted on the Station this afternoon.

For those who were there, imagine the Station as it sat in Tour & Taxis last September, only surrounded by the white stretches of Antarctica. By now, the team has also added the front door to the tower and was quite proud to be able to use it for the first time.

As you can guess, spirits are high as ever as huge progress is made each day. Alain also mentioned that they were planning on closing the roof of the Station by tomorrow, Wednesday Feb. 13, at the end of the day. He told us once again how pleased he was with the team's determination and dedication to the project, and wishes to thank you all for following this adventure.

Schoolchildren from the Hoogstraten primary school, located near Antwerp, designed and sewed a flag especially dedicated to the new Belgian Station in Antarctica.

Having studied the various aspects associated with the project, the fifth and sixth graders decided they would make a contribution to the Station. The flag they designed and sewed will be implanted in Utsteinen, Antarctica, as soon as the next team members reach the 6th continent.

The Utsteinen workaholics have now completed mounting the exterior modules on the Station's East side.

The East façade is the side from which the wind comes in. It was the first to be finished in order to shield the station. Although it has calmed down over the past few days, the wind is still cold and numbing when it hits your bare skin.

Thank goodness the sun is high, lifting the spirits and morale of the Utsteinen team.

Weather Information from Utsteinen

Date 30.01.2008
Time 07 35 UTC (Universal Time Coordinated)

• Wind Direction: 90 deg
• Wind Speed: 20 km/h - 40 km/h
• Visibility: 10 + km
• Temperature: -11.1°C
• Pressure (QNH): 823 hPa

The C-shaped wooden side beams have now all been mounted. Next step involves tackling the exterior metal panels, as soon as the weather permits to do so.

The current weather (windy) has somewhat restrained current work on the station, but that does not mean all activities have come to a haul. In waiting for the wind to drop in order to mount the exterior metal panels, cabling between the wind turbines and the station has been carried out at the foot of the rocks. The cables are threaded inside a sort of metal pipe, built above ground level to prevent snow drift accumulation and allow easy access.

The fast progress of these past few weeks goes to show that the building exercise at Tour & Taxis (Brussels) this past September 2007 really paid off. Apart from a few recurrent problems with the Prinoth tractors, no other trouble has been reported so far.

Weather Information from Utsteinen

Date 24.01.2008
Time 17 38 UTC

• Wind Direction : 90 deg
• Wind Speed : 17 - 25 km/h
• Visibility : 10 + km
• Cloud ceiling : 2000 feet
• Temperature : -10.4°C
• Pressure (QNH) : 825 hPa

The building team spent just 5 days building the station's floor. That's roughly 500 m² of pine wood resting upon the metal struts. This rigid progress puts the building team a few days ahead of schedule! Progress has been such that the building team earned a day's rest over the week-end.

Watching the station's evolution is like following the assembly of a giant puzzle. Every new piece brings us closer to the completed picture. Already, a sheet of EPDM liner is being placed on the underside of the wooden panels, to isolate the wood from the exterior environment.

Over the next few days, while they await the stainless steel panels to arrive from the coast with the next traverse, the team will put up the wooden beams composing the roof's structure. The team hopes to start mounting the C-shaped wooden side beams this Wednesday.

Weather Information from Utsteinen

Date 21.01.2008
Time 14 31 UTC

• Wind Direction: 90 deg
• Wind Speed: 6 km/h
• Visibility: +10 km
• Cloud ceiling: 4500 feet
• Temperature: -5.7 C
• Pressure (QNH): 830 hPa

The building team spent just 5 days building the station's floor. That's roughly 500 m² of pine wood resting upon the metal struts. This rigid progress puts the building team a few days ahead of schedule! Progress has been such that the building team earned a day's rest over the week-end.

Watching the station's evolution is like following the assembly of a giant puzzle. Every new piece brings us closer to the completed picture. Already, a sheet of EPDM liner is being placed on the underside of the wooden panels, to isolate the wood from the exterior environment.

Over the next few days, while they await the stainless steel panels to arrive from the coast with the next traverse, the team will put up the wooden beams composing the roof's structure. The team hopes to start mounting the C-shaped wooden side beams this Wednesday.

Weather Information from Utsteinen

Date 21.01.2008
Time 14 31 UTC

• Wind Direction: 90 deg
• Wind Speed: 6 km/h
• Visibility: +10 km
• Cloud ceiling: 4500 feet
• Temperature: -5.7 C
• Pressure (QNH): 830 hPa

It is snowing lightly, the sky is overcast, but the sun still pierces through the clouds. A fresh breeze rises now and then upon the Utsteinen ridge, cooling any extremity that has not been covered. It is -12°C, but who knows what the wind chill is.

Another traverse set off on January 17th. Only 53 containers are left waiting at the coast to be picked up. The driving team, however, is exhausted in trying to keep up with the speed of construction. We have been informed that the construction crew would have to take a day off some time soon, in order for the traverse team to catch up with progress. It is impossible for the Prinoth tractors to go any faster than 41 hours round trip (the local record) and unsafe to attach a fourth trailer onto the tractor.

The floor has started being positioned into the wooden skeleton of the station. Everyone is working like ants around the station and eager to see each piece slot into place. A sigh of relief is released with every step the team accomplishes. Lately, the workmen have simply been shooting ahead.

Weather Information from Utsteinen

Date 18.01.2008
Time 06 54 UTC

• Wind Speed: 0-2 km/h
• Visibility: +5 km
• Temperature: -5.1°C
• Pressure (QNH): 828 hPa

Building on site continues, no matter what the weather is like. When one activity slows down, another one picks up speed. There are always more than 20 people working up on the ridge and round abouts, and 6 who are out on a traverse between Utsteinen and Crown Bay. More than half the containers are now in Utsteinen.

The wooden scaffolding has now been finished, and the first upright beams put into place. For some reason, there is an enormous amount of wood left over. It will be put to good use in making other structures, such as the workshops and storage spaces in the hangar/garage. Extra rock has had to be broken at the base of the ridge to make room for the tower. The team has had to come up with more ingenious methods to remove a few cubic metres of solid granite.

The 44kVa generator has come into play and, since the 22kVa is no longer necessary on the construction site, it has been brought down to the base camp to heat water for the bathroom and power the cookers in the kitchen, the fridge container and the computers in the Command and Control Centre.

More medical supplies have arrived on site, allowing Dr. Jacques Richon to operate the medical centre like a hospital. He has already had to place a plaster cast on Gregory Diez's fractured wrist and remedy a few cuts and burns, and a painful lumbago.

Weather Information from Utsteinen

Date 16.01.2008
Time 09 00 UTC

• Wind Direction: 120 deg
• Wind Speed: 15 km/h/ Gust : 25 km/h
• Visibility: 2 km
• Cloud ceiling: 3000 feet
• Temperature: -9.8°C
• Pressure (QNH): 824 hPa

Since the metal struts have been mounted on the Utsteinen ridge, work on the station has been advancing fast. Neither the weather nor the hard physical work has slowed the workmen down.

Up until now, the workmen had been working down against the rock ridge. This is a physically demanding and horribly dirty job, that doesn't offer much recognition to the authors. As the station is mounted, these anchoring points are no longer visible to the bare eye. However, it is surprising to know that the station's precise foundation work (drilling, anchoring, fixing the anchor bars with resin, mixing the concrete, and preparing the scaffolding and the concrete's core grid) was accomplished over two months by a small team varying between four and ten people.

The cold has started to bite harder during the day and night. Temperatures drop sooner in the evenings now and have been bringing the workmen back to the mess tent earlier. The temperature at night recently reached -20°C!

Weather Information from Utsteinen

Date 14.01.2008
Time 08 00 UTC (Universal Time Coordinated)

• Wind Direction: 80 deg
• Wind Speed: 20-30 km/h
• Visibility: +10 km
• Temperature: -10.7°C
• Pressure (QNH): 825 hPa

The Station's metal struts have emerged from the Utsteinen rock in just 3 days. With only two struts left to place, the early stages of the station's pre-construction in Brussels are now fully recognizable.

Varying between 2 and 6 metres in length, the 14 metallic struts anchored into the Utsteinen rock are made up of steel. Alain Hubert is very happy with the progression (no delay in schedule) and especially with the anchoring points which lie within 4 mm of perfection.

The toil of drilling and fixing the 50 anchoring points for the metal struts during the month of December are now paying off. Not much time for contemplation, though, because the team has now to prepare the scaffolding for the remaining construction work.

Down at the base camp, Bernard and Paul continue to work on the new sanitary facilities. The BELARE team is also promised a new dispensary, with a bed and heating. Things keep getting better by the day!