Adjustable-height structure for protection from climatic influences and changing sub-floor properties

摘要

As a result of climatic influences, snow accumulation, drifting snow and deformations of the sub-floor, the building, operation and retreating of buildings in polar regions, especially in the Antarctic, is severely impeded and the lifetime is limited. The adjustable-height structure should avoid the existing problems as a result of its position, arrangement and operation. The building (1) forms a cover of a hall (2) which is flush with the surface of the ice and had previously been dug out from the firn sub-floor (3). The building is continuously lowered or raised by a pneumatic lifting mechanism (4) and is thus always held with its upper edge substantially at the surface of the firn. The energy required for the lifting process is stored in the form of air pressure in large overpressure storage devices.