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Development of a Remote Station Architecture 7. THE ENGINEERING MANUAL FOR MCMURDO STATION 1974-79 Shortly after the decision to make the U.S. presence a permanent one in Antarctica, a decision was also made to replace the station’s temporary shelters and other facilities with permanent buildings. The standard building forms throughout the original science camp were Quonset huts, Jamesway huts, and panelized T-5 structures (figs. 3, 4 & 5). The Quonset is a modular metal arched structure with infilled ends of plywood or metal panels. Due to their simple design, they can be expanded in only two directions and their arched sides are generally restricted of penetrations for windows and doors. Jamesway structures are collapsible wood- arch units covered with impregnated double-wall canvas blankets filled with fiberglass insulation. An interlocking prefabricated wood floor supports the base of the arches. T-5 panels are sandwich units with integral insulation, fasteners, and plywood skin. These panels are connected to form a structural system of walls and roof. The Navy’s Civil Engineering Laboratory (NCEL) was instructed to provide an engineering study of McMurdo Station and to produce a manual of recommendations for permanent building development and the upgrading of the minimal heating, ventilating, and utility systems to improve personnel comfort and safety. The table of contents of the manual shows the extent of NCEL’s work.
The primary result of the study was the recommendation of one basic building system that would be used for all major structures, including warehouses, shops, and living quarters. The system chosen was steel framed and panelized building produced by the H.H. Robertson Co., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The exterior skin was a steel clad three-inch insulated panel without any metal fasteners extending through it. A coated steel vapor barrier at its interior side prevented moisture penetration. Manufacturer’s claims indicated that moisture would not form on the panel interior with an outside temperature of -50° F and an inside relative humidity and temperature of 80% and 70° F. All Robertson buildings were to be erected on prepared level sites four feet above the frozen ground to prevent the heat that is lost through the building floor from thawing the permafrost beneath the foundations. Thawed permafrost could cause possible settlement of the foundations. In some cases, where access to utility pipes was needed, the area below the building was skirted with panels to prevent snow accumulation (fig. 6).
*“The World’s Frozen Clean Room”, Business Week, January 22, 1990 Proceed to next section: 8. The Holmes & Narver Ten Year Master Plan Table of Contents Return to Publications
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Enactment of the NCEL Engineering Manual standards changed the station from a temporary encampment to a permanent station technically designed to meet the needs for survival in this remote area. Although technically successful in its purpose to establish a building standard for the station, the manual was not intended to address a comprehensive plan for the station’s development. The functional needs of the building inhabitants, infrastructure, and esthetics were given a low priority, as can be seen in the expanding chaotic collection of metal building forms connected by elevated utility lines and pipes that finally resulted from the implementation of the manual in the absence of a station master plan (fig.7). The station’s complexion became an affront to the serene beauty of the Antarctic and an embarrassment to the United States when the news media began to report on the status of the continent’s environment*.