Antarctica presents unique challenges for settlement design and construction. Temperatures completely
preclude the use of concrete. Frozen and/or loose gravel soil make building solid foundations difficult. High winds makes tall structures hard to design. Indeed, modern research stations are primarily made of metal while historic structures are made of heavy timbers. This article deals with a few practical considerations, some experimental ideas, and general considerations about cost and the built environment. Dealing with Wind As mentioned in earlier articles the winds coming off the Antarctic continent are no joke. As such construction plans must account for it as much, if not more, than they do for temperature. This is because high winds can also greatly effect how much energy it takes to heat a building. Due to the high windspeed expected from winter winds any such windbreak would need to be strong. There are a few calculations that are important for solid windbreaks. Firstly, the zone right behind a windbreak actually collects snow due to it becoming a slight vacuum. This 'snow zone' is at a distance of up to 5x the height of the windbreak (5H) with a wind protection zone starting just beyond it and going to 15x the height of the windbreak (15H). So a wall about 10ft tall would need the buildings to be protected spaced 50ft from the walls. Wind breaks have thus far had limited use in Antarctica: [1] Another consideration is the shape of the buildings. Square buildings are actually very inefficient at retaining heat. Circular buildings do better by eliminating dead space and allowing wind to more easily pass by the structure. While not every wall in the settlement need be curved, complete elimination of right angled corners may be desirable. Pykrete Having decided to build a windbreak (which would double as a defencive wall) what should it be built out of? The answer is a material developed during World War II called pykrete. An 'alloy' of saw dust and ice (1-6 ratio by weight) pykrete has properties comparable to cement. Unlike ice it is slow to melt due to saw dust's low thermal conductivity. As long as temperatures remain below -15 degrees Celsius pykrete will not deform or degrade. Pykrete has the advantage of being incredibly cheap to make with its saw dust (or other cellulose) component light weight enough to transport in large quantities. Pykrete would find good use as a building material for wind breaks and other cold storage structures. Pallet Construction Modern society has become inherently wasteful both in terms of people and material. Nowhere is the sheer waste of materials more evident than the humble pallet. Over 100 million wooden pallets end up in the landfill each year. Many of these pallets are still serviceable. This presents an opportunity. Any growing settlement is going to need building materials and if the cost of transporting them in can't be eliminated than the next best thing is to eliminate the cost of the materials themselves. Pallets can be picked up for free at many locations and are built to be strong. Wool Insulation Wool is an amazing insulation material. Resistant to fire and mold, possessing decent R-value, and a fully renewable resource, makes wool a great candidate for insulating the settlement walls (and of course the settlers themselves). Its one downside, that it attracts certain insects, is negated by Antarctica not having insects to attract. Wool production also has a tendency to out-strip demand which leads to frequent gluts in production. As a result sourcing cheap wool is doable (the quality of the wool mattering little). Sourcing locally So what building materials can be sourced locally in Antarctica? As mentioned above water, as ice, is present in abundance. Stone and gravel are also easily located. Penguin down is an alternative insulating material as penguin chicks shed their down as they mature and the down itself has great insulating qualities. Feather down is flammable, however, so it would be better to restrict it to clothing insulation. Growing trees for their lumber is theoretically possible but would tie up a great deal of space, time, and resources. Any future settlement will require a great deal of material but this is a logistics problem, not a technology problem.
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Published ResearchAs the project develops and gaps in understanding are filled finalized plans will be posted here. The end goal being a comprehensive plan for settling Antarctica. All plans subject to update as new information is learned. Archives
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