Experimental Hose Line for Fuel Transport over Deep Snow.

• Main Author: Hoffman,C. R.
• Other Authors: CIVIL ENGINEERING LAB (NAVY) PORT HUENEME CALIF
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1974
• Subjects: Pumps; Filters; Pipes; Tubing; Fittings & Vlvs; *REFUELING; *ANTARCTIC REGIONS; *PIPELINES; FUEL HOSES; ICE; SNOW; SUSPENSION DEVICES; TOWERS; COLD WEATHER TESTS; Antarctic; McMurdo Ice Shelf; McMurdo Station; Williams Field; Antarc*; Ice Shelf
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/AD0782582; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0782582

Resupply of the inland Antarctic stations requires the transport of more than 3,000,000 gallons of aircraft and diesel fuel from storage at McMurdo Station to the Williams Field Air Facility 3.5 miles away. In November 1971, the Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory constructed in this area an experimental 2,000-foot-long elevated hose line supported from wooden towers and a wire-rope messenger cable to evaluate the feasibility of constructing and maintaining a permanent hose or pipeline compatible with the movement and snow accumulation on the McMurdo Ice Shelf. More than a year's observations of the system showed compression of the ice shelf averaged 26 feet per 1,000 feet, which was greater than previously observed. Too, annual snow accumulation in localized areas was extremely variable, ranging between 4 and 46 inches. The system was constructed and maintained without difficulty, but use of this design is recommended only in areas of little ice shelf compression and snow accumulation. (Author)