South Pole Station Tour

South pole station is situated on an ice cap ~ 9,350 ft thick, at an elevation of 9,301 ft. Stations here must be engineered for the changing environment of the ice cap, and unless properly engineered, buildings have a finite lifetime. Although there is almost no precipitation, snow drifts will build up around structures, eventually burying them or causing structural collapse damage. The other main issue is the shifting nature of the ice cap, which can cause differential shifts/loads in large structures, causing interfaces between different sections of the structure can become uneven over time. In general, it is better to build elevated stations or underground stations. South Pole Station has a bit of both (shown above), with most living, admin, science, and rec spaces in the elevated station. Underneath, is a sequence of tunnels and arches that lead to maintenance structures such as water supply, the power planet, and storage facilities. 

The ice tunnels shown above lead to the rodwells, which is where the station obtains its water. Rodwells pump hot water into an ice hole to start a well, which provides a feedback of liquid water. The rodwells expand to be over 500 feet deep and can eventually provide over 2.9 million gallons of water. Each rod well lasts about a decade, and as it pulls water from deeper depths, it is melting ice/snow formed over a thousand years ago before being packed down into the ice cap. The ice tunnels extend for about 1500 feet to the rod wells and are about 40 feet below the surface, deep enough that the walls of packed ice are has hard as stone. Some bowing in the roof is a noticeable result of the changing stresses of the ice. The most unique feature of the ice tunnels are the  shrines sparsely populate various pockets, forming dedications to groups of workers and winters past. Currently we are pulling water out of the third rodwell, and dumping waste into the empty second rodwell. 

Rodwell diagram - rod start at surface expands into liquid water well

There are three arches, one for the power plant, warehouse, and fuel storage. The power plant runs completely on fuel, which is transported to the station via LC-130s or via the Traverse, a convoy which drives fuel from McMurdo to the South Pole. Because of the government shutdown earlier in the season, only two traverses were made this year (instead of three), and LC-130s have been rushing to bring enough fuel in for the winter. Next year they hope to make four traverses, which are about half as expensive as flying fuel in. We have a capacity to cary 450,000 gallons of fuel, and currently have over 350,000, which is enough for the winter.

Fire hazard

The logistics warehouse stores food and other supplies. What's shown in the photo above is mostly food stock. The station has enough food for five years.

Also contains the lost ark of the covenant

My small but cozy room in one of the wings of the the elevated station. Everyone on station has single rooms.