Tunneling at the South Pole

摘要

Tunneling in cold regions presents many unique engineering challenges. When that region is the South Pole, these challenges become extreme. In 1996, the U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory first deployed the South Pole Tunneling System. This system was designed and built specifically for machining tunnels in the firn (highly compacted snow) of the Antarctic ice cap. The tunneling machine creates 2- x 3-m tunnels through the material at depths of up to 16 m. A pneumatic chip disposal system transfers the debris to the surface, where a centrifugal fan powers the disposal system. This system has been used to create two tunnels for water and power transport in support of the new South Pole Station currently under construction. This paper will discuss some of the engineering challenges faced by both the designers and operators of the equipment over the course of four deployments.