Halley Halley is the UK’s most isolated station and is afloat on an ice shelf on the mainland of Antarc - tica.The relief of Halley is a major undertaking with supplies being landed twice a year by ship onto the ice shelf and then towed on sledges by Sno-cats to Halley, 12 km distant from the ice edge. The station operates throughout the year with a maximum population of 65 in the summer and an average of 15 over winter. Halley I to Halley IV were built directly on the snow and allowed to go below the surface as snow accumulated. They were each abandoned within ten years, having been crushed by the overlying ice. Halley V is the fifth station to be built on the Brunt Ice Shelf.The first was established for the International Geophysical Year (IGY) in 1957-58, and named after the astronomer Edmond Halley. Halley V contains a mix of building technologies. Three buildings are located on platforms on steel legs, which are jacked up annually to keep them clear of the accumulated snowfall. An accom- modation building and a garage weighing over 50 tons are mounted on skis and towed each year to a new position. Halley V is now very close to the area that may be at risk of ice shelf calving, so its replacement, Halley VI, may be located in a differ- ent area to the previous bases to give an extended life span. The design for the new station is likely to be a competition, administered by the RIBA and, if affordable, be the first to be of a radical new form. The construction phase for this station is planned to be over two Austral summers, 2006/7 and 2007/8. [Halley IV under construction.]
On Site review 11
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Spring 2004
Architecture of the Circumpolar Region
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