Ice Creep

Ice creep is a phenomenon unique to polar construction in which the weight of a structure causes ice to compress and shift away from sources of pressure. The resulting differential displacement of ice beneath a building causes uneven settling and makes keeping the building level a challenge.

The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station incorporates a variety of design elements to manage ice creep. An ice foundation reinforced with a steel grade beam is the first line of defence to mitigate ice creep by creating a solid substrate upon which to place the building supports.



Built on a 3.2 kilometre deep glacier, the station will inevitably experience differential settlement during its life cycle, despite the reinforced ice slab foundation. The building has been designed to compensate when it settles out of a level position by using hydraulic jacks integral to the columns upon which it sits. When deployed, the jacks allow for a quick and easy re-levelling of the building and allow for the integration of new sections of columns to raise the building.

Differential settlement is also addressed in the design of exterior doors. An adjustable height assembly is used to lower or raise the height of exterior doors as required by settlement or the accumulation of snow. A series of modular pieces are moved from below the door to above or vice versa to allow verstality in the location of the opening within an oversized door jamb assembly.

The station is built as an assemblage of smaller, autonomous structures or 'pods' joined by flexible joints which allow for movement of between 6-9 inches in any direction. These flexible joints are another innovative design element, similar to the passenger bays in airports when boarding an airplane. In the joints between buildings, all of the mechanical elements must also accomodate movement and are appropriately equipped with flexible sections of pipe or ducting.

Designing for the South Pole Climate

The South Pole is located on a plateau of ice about 2700 meters thick at an altitude of about 2835 meters. Due to this altitude and distance from the ocean, it has one of the coldest climates on earth. It is even colder than the North Pole which benefits from the ocean acting as a reservoir of heat.During the summer months at the South Pole (September-March), the sun is continuously above the horizon and moves in a counterclockwise circle, however, it is always low in the sky. The sun reaches a maximum angle of 23.5 degrees in December. The temperature averages at around -25 degrees Celsius in the summer and -65 degrees Celsius in the winter. The South Pole has a desert climate and as a result, suffers from extremely dry air and very little precipitation. The average accumulation of snowfall is 20cm/year. Average winds travel at around 19.8 km/h and can reach up to 88.9 km/h. These winds cause snow drifts which cause major snow build up around structures. Due to this extreme climate, there are no native residential plants or animals at the South Pole.

The new station, of course, had to take into account the South Pole's extreme conditions. It was also an improvement on the designs of previous stations.

One major issue that any structure at this location must deal with is drifting snow. Both the 1956 and 1975 stations had constant snow build up requiring the use of bulldozers to clear the snow and transport it miles away. This process of excavation was not only time consuming, but it used up considerable amounts of valuable fuel. In response to this problem, the new station is elevated off the ground by 36 hydraulic jacking columns. Also helping to minimize snow build up is the shape of the building. The structure is designed to face into the prevailing winds with the profile of an airplane's wing enhancing air flow around the building.

Due to its sloped bottom edge, the wind will also accelerate as it passes under that building helping to clear snow build up.

In the event that snow does build up under the structure, the hydraulic jacking columns are designed to raise the building up in 10 inch increments. This is accomplished by adding new column sections. The whole structure can be raised up a total of two more stories above the ice.

To allow for the shifting ice on which the station sits, connecting walkways between building modules are flexible.

For ease of transportation to South Pole, the new elevated station is made up of 4 modules which were shipped by ski-equipped LC-130 Hercules cargo aircraft. The aircraft can carry more than 40,000 pounds of cargo.

Timeline for Amundsen Scott South Pole Station

The construction of the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station began in November 1956, to support the International Geophysical Year in 1957. The International Geophysical Year was based on the previous, smaller scale International Polar Years (1882–83 and 1932–33), and was used to join multiple nations and their scientists together. The year chosen was full of intense solar activity, and so it was decided that the participating nations would look at a variety of aspects of the earth and not just the polar regions. It allowed for scientific exchange across the world, in a time where tensions were high between the East and West (Cold War).

The Original station, completed in February 1957, lasted until 1975. Before its construction, the winter conditions at the South Pole had never been measured. As a result, the station was built partially underground as it was thought that this would protect it from the weather. However, it caused wind-blown snow to build up in the surrounding area, burying the structure further at a rate of about four feet a year. The station is now deeply buried, and has been abandoned since 1975. Its wooden roof has caved in because of pressure, and the site is now a hazardous area off limits to visitors.

Plan of the old station

The next station was built as a geodesic dome in 1975. From the 1990s on, astrophysical research took advantage of the atmospheric conditions of the South Pole, producing significant scientific results. An observatory building was dedicated in 1995. The increasing importance of these projects resulted in the increase of scientific cargo and personnel. The Dome was initially designed to house 18 people during the winter and 33 during the summer but as the infrastructure and technology increased, a number of science and berthing structure were added in the 1990s. The Dome was in use until 2003.

In 1999, a physician, Jerri Nielson, staying for the winter, diagnosed herself with breast cancer and began treatment. She trained the staff around her to help with chemo. She was stuck there for the winter months because of the extreme cold, and no planes flew in during this time. There was only one doctor, and no other trained medical staff. A Navy was supposed to drop her medical supplies but the plane couldn't land because the gear and mechanical fluids would freeze. She was evenutally flown home. Jerri Nielson died in 2009.

In 2003, the new Elevated station was built. Its design started in 1992 by Ferraro Choi & Associates, and its construction began in 1999. Important features, indicating a growth in the design resulting from experience, include a modular design which allows for an increasing station population, as well as an adjustable elevation to prevent the station from being buried in snow. (Other measures have also been taken to keep the structure from being quickly in snow. For example, an angled wall faces the wind thus increasing the speed of the wind as it passes above, causing snow to be scoured away.

It is evident that the station not only changed over time as they learned from experience, but the changing conditions also resulted in the change in design. The station had to accommodate these changes, hence the building evolved. The first station was built to support researchers during the International Geophysical Year. However, interest in Polar Research increased so a new design and a larger station were necessary. The dome facility was designed to accommodate 18 people during the winter and 33 during the summer, but over time the design couldn’t contain the growing infrastructure and technology. As a result, science and berthing structures were added in the 1990s. Finally, the elevated station was constructed to further deal with the problems of the climate and the increasing population of the station.

Timeline for the Fram

The Fram was used in expeditions between 1893 to 1912.

The Fram on Ice

It was initially designed for Fridtjof Nansen’s 1893 expedition by Colin Archer. Nansen wanted to explore the Arctic farther north than anyone before him had. To do this, he had to deal with a problem other ships were facing when venturing onto icy waters (a specific example is the Jeannette)– that the ice could crush the ship. Nansen’s idea was to build a ship that would be able to survive the pressure not solely by strength, but because it’s design would work with the ice. The idea was for the ice to push the ship up, causing it to “float” on top of the ice, unlike any other ship of the time. The Fram left on June 24th, 1893 and entered the ice pack on September 25th. The Fram stayed in the pack ice, where the ship became like a station, where the men did the analysis of the sea depth, salinity and other characteristics of the ocean. On October 13th, it survived a serious of pressure waves which had destroyed many other ships in the past. It finally emerged from the ice pack 3 years later.

Nansen's planned drift to the North Pole

Nansen's expedition

On June 24th, 1898, Otto Sverdup led a scientific expedition to the Canadian Arctic Islands. A number of alterations were carried out for this expedition. A significant change was the introduction of a new deck. Sverdrup wanted to sail through Greenland and Ellesmere island, but got stuck in the pack ice near Ellesmere island, where the ship acted as a base for exploration of the surrounding areas. They surveyed new islands, by exploring with sledges.This expedition lasted until 1902.

Sverdrup's Expedition

In 1905, a large portion of the ship’s exterior was lost in a fire in a naval storehouse.

In 1907, the ship was examined. Panelling, insulation, and parts attacked by fungus or decay were removed. Woodwork was coated with carbolineum or tar.

On June 1st, 1908, Roald Amundsen and Colin Archer inspected the ship. Amundsen wanted to be the first to reach the South Pole after he found out the North Pole had already been achieved. During the spring of 1909, the Fram was repaired and altered according to the conditions necessary for Amundsen’s expedition. A significant change was that the steam engine and the boiler were replaced by an oil-motor. Amundsen left for his expedition on August 9th, 1910. Once in Antarctica the ship settled for the winter to wait for spring to head over the ice to get to the South Pole. Amundsen was the first to reach the south pole. His expedition ended in 1912.

Amundsen's Expedition

Between 1912 and the late 1920s, the ship decayed in storage

In the late 1920s, Lars Christensen, Otto Sverdrup, and Oscar Wisting began efforts to preserve the ship.

In 1935, the ship was relocated to the Fram Museum where it now stands.

The Fram in the Fram Museum

Similar to the South Pole Station, the Fram also had to be modified as its purpose changed over time.

Fram Drawings

Plan - Nansen's Fram

Plan - Nansen's Fram

Section - Nansen's Fram

Section - Nansen's Fram

Section - Nansen's Fram

Plan - Amundsen's Fram

Plan - Amundsen's Fram

Section - Amundsen's Fram

Section - Amundsen's Fram

Axonometric - Amundsen's Fram

Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station's Purpose

The original station was set up by Roald Amundsen who reached the South Pole on Dec. 11, 1911. It was simply a tent that he set up in the spot he determined to be the South Pole.

The station today is named after Amundsen, as well as explorer Robert F. Scott and his party, who reached the South Pole Jan. 17, 1912. In 1956, the site was surveyed for the establishment of a research station for the International Geophysical Year (IGY), which was completed in 1957. It expanded so much that a new station was constructed from 1970 to 1975 and dedicated upon completion. Since then, a third station has been built, and was completed in 2008 for the U.S. National Science Foundation.

Originally built 400 m from the South Pole, the ice movement at a rate of 10 m per year is moving the station closer to the real pole. Today, it is a year-round facility for scientific projects operated by the National Science Foundation. Its location is ideal to research things like the Earth's origin, astrophysics, astronomy, and climate change. It includes living, dining, communication, recreation, laboratory, observatory, and meeting spaces. It can accommodate over 200 people, although only about 40 stay through the winters to keep the station running.

The Fram's Purpose

The Fram was a ship used in expeditions to both the North and South Poles. On the first voyage, Norwegian scientist Fridtjof Nansen wanted to test his theory of a transpolar current. He had naval architect Colin Archer design a polar vessel in 1892, and planned to let the current carry the ship to the North Pole. The Fram was initially designed for polar regions, unlike many ships at the time which were originally merchant ships. The basic design allowed the ship to be set into an ice pack to be carried by the current across the water. Most ships tried to avoid the ice, but the rounded hull of the ship allowed the pressure of the ice to push the ship up above the ice, instead of damage the ship.

Its strength was the first priority in design, as opposed to the aesthetic. For later polar expeditions, the Fram's design was altered. It was about the average size for polar ships at the time, and had enough space to store food and firewood for six years.

Nansen and his crew set sail for the Arctic on June 24th, 1893. The ship entered an ice pack on Sept. 25, at which point the engine was dismantled and a windmill was set up to provide electricity. The Fram became an arctic station, as it was used for recording data on sea temperature, depth, and salt content. Nansen also studied the Aurora Borealis.

Over the voyage, the ship proved its strength as it survived the ice and pressure waves. The trip did confirm the existence of the current, but the wind and tide played significant roles in altering the ship's path. It was used for later polar expeditions led by Otto Sverdup in 1898 and Roald Amundsen in 1910, and has been in the Fram Museum in Oslo, Norway since 1935.

Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station Architects

Ferraro Choi and Associates Ltd

The Elevated South Pole Station, under design/construction from 1992 - 1998, was designed by the Ferraro Choi architectural and engineering team. The firm, founded in 1988 by Joseph J. Ferraro and Gerald K. Choi, is based in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Biographies of Critical People in the Fram

Roald Amundsen

Amundsen was born on July 16, 1872 near Oslo, Norway. He remains to date one of the most successful polar explorers ever, being both the first person to fly over the North Pole in a dirigible in May 1926 and the first person to reach the South Pole in December 1911. His mother had originally wanted him to be a doctor, so Amundsen studied medicine until the age of 21 when his mother passed away; he then dropped out of school to become an explorer. Amundsen's first experience in the Antarctic was with Adrien de Gerlache's 1899 Belgica Expedition as Gerlache's first mate. In 1903 Amundsen led a crew up to the North Pole, attempting unsuccessfully to use Arctic currents to reach the Pole and unintentionally drifted through the Northwest Passage, becoming the second person in history to do so. Amundsen's expedition to the South Pole on the Fram launched in June 1910 and returned successful in March 1912. Amundsen died June 22, 1928 at the age of 52 while trying to rescue a friend who had been lost in a dirigible crash that was later found by rescuers.

Colin Archer

Archer was born July 22, 1832 and was from Larvik, Norway. He was a naval architect and shipbuilder. One of his most important ship designs was The Fram, the ship used in Amundsen's expedition to the South Pole. Prior to his career as a shipbuilder, he spent time in Queensland, Australia. Archer is known especially for building safe, sturdy ships. He did a lot of calculations on how to design an efficient hull, and his research is still consulted today by modern shipbuilders. Archer did February 3, 1921. Over his career he is credited with the design of over 200 vessels.

Location and Site of the Fram

The Fram

Today the Fram is located in Oslo, Norway in the Fram Museum. It's fame came from the expeditions that it made possible, of which there where three. Made for Fridtjof Nansen's expedition to the north pole the boat was specially made to freeze in the ice flows in order to travel slowly across the north pole protected in the ice that normally destroys exploration ships.

North Pole Expedition

During Nansen`s expedition the boat traveled along the north of Europe and Russia(Shown in red here) stopping for supplies
and to pickup dogs for crossing the ice. Once reaching a point in the Laptev Sea, on october 9th 1893, the propeller was dissembled and the Fram was frozen in ice at 78°49'N, 132°53'E .

Frozen in the ice the Fram moved with it fallowing the trans polar currents in an erratic path past the north pole (as indicated by the blue).

The typical thickness of arctic sea ice is about 2 to 3 meters due to its relative lack of movement to antarctic ice. No sustainable food or shelter can be made on the ice and frigid temperatures are contended with each day (-43 to -26 degrees Celsius in winter and around -34 in summer). The sea depth is on average 1038m.

This frozen ice sheet became home to the ship and provided room other then the hull of the ship it's self. The dogs where kept in kennels on the ice freeing precious room with in the ship but, fighting amongst them and the loss of dogs to polar bears made the crew bring them back on boar. The ship had become an arctic station for scientific observation rather then a transport. Measurement of sea depth and information from the drift of the ship was extremely valuable to the study of oceanography, especially in the nearly unreachable polar region. Meteorological and magnetic gauges and instruments were set up on the ice. Skiing was made mandatory for each crew member to practice for a few hours.The ice cut off all possible outside help but did provide a way of escape however risky it might be.

On October 25 the arctic night started, requiring the use of the lamps and generator that where brought to deal with the continuous darkness.

The spring brought on thawing of the ice sheet leaving the Fram frozen but making movement hazardous and calling for the use of the kayaks that where brought along.

On 14 March, 1895 Nansen left the ship to make his way to the pole by sled, leaving the ship with instructions to drift as far as they could till they ran out of supplies or the ice released them. On the 13th of June 1896 the ship left the ice and returned to Norway days after Nansen

Amundsen`s Antarctic expedition

The Fram left Norway in 1910, and on October he told the world of the change of plans they would go to the south pole.

January 14, 1911 the Fram reached The Bay of whales where Amundsen established his base camp Framheim, `The home of the Fram.`The station consisted of a small prefabricated cabin and a network of workshops and storage rooms, including a steam-bath room, carved out of the ice surrounding the main hut. An important factor to consider is the transportation and problems in the construction and how these problems are solved in the case of the Fram by the brute prefabrication of shelter. Unlike the northern expedition the Fram did not remain to be the shelter for the explorers. Depots for supplies where to provide storage.

Antarctic coastal temperatures range from −28°C (−18.4°F) in August to −3°C (26.6°F) in January. Snow fall of about 200mm per year is the average in the coastal part of the Ross ice shelf shelf.

The Fram returned home to Norway in 1912 and was left in storage damaging it till in the 1920s when efforts where made to preserve it and in 1935 was installed in the Fram museum