Ten thousand miles from the UK on a 200m thick shelf of ice, possibly the most extreme, and certainly the coldest, construction project in the world is under way. In the winter, temperatures drop to -55? and hardly ever rise above freezing in the middle of the summer. When extreme winds blow - which is frequently - it is impossible to go outside because the ice and snow blowing around mean you can't see your hand in front of your face. Welcome to the construction of the Halley VI research station - soon to be the new home of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), the group that discovered the hole in the ozone layer. It is called Halley VI because it has five predecessors. The first four research stations got buried under the 1.5m of snow and ice that accumulate each year, having lasted 10 years apiece. Halley V has done well, lasting 20 years, as its legs can be extended each year by adding new steel sections to them. But there is a new problem. It is situated on a tongue on the Brunt ice shelf, which breaks off every 50 to 60 years. "There is a high risk of it breaking off in 2010 and Halley V will then flow out to sea," says Karl Tuplin, BAS' project manager for the job. "This gave us our deadline for the new station."
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