2016-17 Summer Photos - Making stuff go away part 1: BIF and environs

the new and old BIF
When we last left this project near the end of the summer, here's what the BIF looked like...with temporary doors, as it was still being used for balloon launches until the converted cryo room was ready. You will notice that it has settled on the right side (SS).
 open door policy at the BIF

This building was structurally unsound. So how do you demo it without endangering people? Thanks to folks like Don McCreight and Sayer Houseal, you hook up carefully designed rigging to various parts of the structure so...(SH).
The BIF is down
...that equipment operator and friend Siah (Josiah) Heiser can pull it down with a simple tug from a tractor (SH).
the collapsed BIF
Looking upwind at the collapsed old BIF...the doors of the replacement facility (cryo) are at left. Oh yes, in the background is the VFM aka the juice box (SS).
vehicle fueling module
Okay...I had to throw in this current photo of the VFM. That's the price in dollars and cents of AN-8 (the latest version of Antarctic jet/diesel fuel) as delivered to Pole (CH).
the old waste barn

Downwind of the BIF, this buried Polar Haven structure was pulled out of its hole. I'm thinking it was the waste barn at one point (SH).
the desert behind the old rodwell building
Here's the site where that Polar Haven was pulled out of...roughly behind the second rodwell building. As that rodwell site is now being filled up with sewage, there's a sewer vent where that stepladder is (SH).
the old rodwell building
A view of the former rodwell building from the station side. Semantics, this building is sometimes known as Rodwell 1, but we know better, see the links and info below. Anyway, Siah was digging it out, preparing to pull it out of its hole to save for the next rodwell (SH).
where the old rodwell building used to be
Don't blink or you might miss something. This photo was taken close to where the ones above were taken. But something is different. The old rodwell building has been towed off, while the sewer vent remains (SS).
the old rodwell building being towed off
And here it goes, being towed off by Siah Heiser, presumably is to be staged on the berm to be saved for Rodwell #4 someday (SH).
filling in the hole where the old rodwell building was
Filling in the hole (SH).
site landscaping completed
All done...graded smooth (SH).

More rodwell semantics...the first Pole rodwell was actually at Old Pole in 1972. The first rodwell for the domed station, originally installed in 1991-92 but not put into service until after the 1994 winter, was housed in two stacked milvans close to the helium/cargo arch. The rodwell under that "Rodwell 1" building was put in service on 13 February 2002...after which the old rodwell was turned into the sewer. The milvans were removed, and the BIF we've been discussing was built on the surface close to the sewer bulb. And that sewer bulb filled up into the firn, causing the BIF to settle. So there we are. Here's the story of the older rodwells, yes, with explosive video.

Credits for this page...SS is Sheryl Seagraves...SH is carpenter Sayer Houseal, and CH is Chris Hawkins.

And the old construction trades shop Jamesways were also being made to go away...

construction photo index | aerial photo index