ing old lessons. To halt this cycle, an Antarctic Les-Sons Learned book has been started. This book willbe reproduced in loose leaf and be changed and addedto frequently. The program to produce the first Les-sons Learned is directed to men of Antarctic SupportActivities at the working level. First publication anduse of the book is planned for the concentrated an-nual training cycle of ASA personnel, which comes inJuly and August 1972. All persons who have gainedexperience in antarctic operations are encouraged tocontribute their accounts of lessons learned for inclu-sion in this book. Descriptions should be in working-man's language and accompanied by sketches if appro-priate. Here are some examples of lessons learned:

—Every year metal rods or similar devices are usedto measure the thickness of the annual sea ice. Therods freeze inside the holes cored for the measurementstations, and frustrating difficulties follow. The prob-lem was solved by greasing the rods and pouring anti-freeze in the holes.

—We tried to minimize melting of the annual iceroad on McMurdo Sound by nailing bumper blocksto the bridge that crosses from the shore to the iceover the tidal crack. The blocks were intended toshake the dirt from the vehicle tires so that it wouldn'tbe tracked onto the ice, where it would hasten melt-ing. This scheme was a total failure. Later experi-ments showed that simply leaving a 2- to 3-inch gapbetween the planks of the bridge was effective.

—During March and April 1972 at McMurdo Sta-tion, ice crystals were formed in diesel fuel arctic(DFA) and motor gas. The crystals plugged filtersand froze fuel lines. Experience has shown that thisprocess is likely to occur when a resupply of bulk fuelis cooling from about +30'F. to -20'F: during theannual refueling, ice deposits in the tank bottoms areagitated, and water particles suspended in the newproduct freeze. As the temperatures continue to falland as the fuels settle, the ice resettles on the tankbottoms and ceases to be a problem.

—In the past some of the common causes of fires inAntarctica have been defective exhaust stacks, burn-able materials stored too close to heaters, and smokingin bed. We have learned that to combat potentialhazards, particularly in the older buildings, exhauststacks must be checked frequently to insure that insula-tion is intact and secure and that burnable material isclear of the stack. In the normal use of a building orspace, all persons must take care to keep flammablearticles well clear of heaters or furnaces. Men in alllatitudes have learned the hard way to respect therule that prohibits smoking in bed.

—Lessons involving crevasse problems in surfacetravel have been learned repeatedly since the earliestexplorations. During the Deep Freeze 72 austral sum-mer season, a member of a construction crew near

McMurdo Station left the approved area of travel ina Trackmaster, an over-the-snow tracked vehicle, anddrove toward Castle Rock. The vehicle's right trackfell into a small crevasse, and a low-ground-pressure(LGP) Caterpillar D-8 was sent to retrieve the Track-master. The D-8 fell in a large crevasse, nearly 3meters across and 20 meters deep; fortunately, itsblade and right track kept it from falling more than 1meter. Two LGP D-8s were then sent to retrieve thestranded D-8 and Trackmaster, after a team hadflagged all known crevasses in the area. Two smallcrevasses were found and filled with snow in the im-mediate area of the stuck vehicles, and snow waspushed into the crevasse fore and aft of the D-8. OneD-8 winched and the other pushed the stranded D-8forward to the area filled in with snow, from which itproceeded on its own power. Filling crevasses withsnow, though a long, slow task, does permit a safemeans of retrieving vehicles from crevasses when theyare relatively close to the surface. Work in a knowncrevasse field requires extreme caution. In this case,although a team had flagged the crevasses and probedfor others, a fourth crevasse was discovered later inthe immediate area.

These are random samples from Antarctic LessonsLearned. Readers of the Antarctic Journal are encour-aged to submit their comments and contributions toCommander, Antarctic Support Activities, Construc-tion Battalion Center, Davisville, Rhode Island 02854.

Construction reportDeep Freeze 72

HUGH F. BOYD, IIICaptain, Corps of Engineers, U.S. ArmyU.S. Naval Support Force, Antarctica

JOHN E. PERRY, JR.Lieutenant, Civil Engineer Corps, U.S. Navy

U.S. Naval Support Force, Antarctica

Under the general supervision of the U.S. NavalSupport Force, Antarctica, the Naval Mobile Con-struction Battalion 71 (NMCB-71) deployed fromDavisville, Rhode Island, with eight officers and 216enlisted men and started or finished some 20 projectsthis past austral summer at U.S. stations in Antarc-tica. It was the first season of antarctic constructionfor NMCB-71.

McMurdo Station

The most significant project at McMurdo Stationthis past season was the construction of the fire sta-

July-August 1972 131

lion/telephone exchange facility. The two-story, 930-square-meter building contains working and livingspaces for 11 firemen and two telephone men, the tele-phone exchange, and storage space for six firetrucksor tractors. This was an ambitious project for oneseason, and its completion is a tribute to NMCB-71in its first antarctic season. An incinerator building,containing two 140-kilogram (300-pound) per hourincinerators, was constructed and is being tested todetermine its effectiveness and its role in the Mc-Murdo waste disposal program.

The third increment of the Elliott Quay protectivefacing—approximately 50 meters—was completed thisseason. By using the offloading areas of incrementsone and two, the cargo ships did not have to reversepositions during this season's construction. Unfortu-nately, a March storm, combined with severe under-cutting of ice behind the facing, destroyed major sec-tions of all three increments. An ice wharf has beendesigned at the Naval Facilities Engineering Com-mand, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, for use this coming season.

Four T-5 prefabricated, modular buildings were dis-mantled during the season. One was sent to Amund-sen-Scott South Pole Station and erected as part of theconstruction camp; one will be erected at WilliamsField as a garage; and two were stored.

The major earthwork project this season was theleveling of the helicopter pad. A total of 17,500 cubicmeters of permafrost and rock were blasted out, andmore than 2,200 cubic meters of fill was hauled in andgraded. The project was suspended in Decemberwhen the helicopters could no longer safely operatefrom the annual ice. The earthwork and the sprayingof the pad with a diesel fuel/C-121 engine oil combi-nation for dust suppression improved the helicopterlanding area considerably.

One JP-4 pipeline and one diesel fuel pipeline (ap-proximately 2,600 meters) were installed from thetank farm in The Gap to a terminus at Scott Base.Many sections of pipe leaked because of age andstresses previously placed on them. Some welding willbe required next season to repair all leaking sections.

Construction on the communications transmitterbuilding began this season. The foundation, floor,exterior walls, roof, and interior wall studs on the 15-by 37-meter single story building have been completed.

Perhaps the most frustrating project for NMCB-71this past season was the three berthing complexes of12 vans each at Williams Field. The vans, manufac-tured by a contractor, were not well made and hadsustained some damage in shipment. The result wasthat many repairs were required in the field, andthree times the work originally programmed was nec-essary.

Other projects completed at McMurdo includedthe drilling of 99 holes for antenna guy anchors, com-

pletion of the 92-meter waste water dilution line atPM-3A, and balancing the heating systems in severalfacilities.

Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station

The most significant work accomplished at the newPole Station complex was the completion of snowprocessing for the geodesic dome foundation. Erectionof the dome was started with the placement of thefoundation blocks and the building of the dome basering. About 80 percent of the steel utilidor shell wasinstalled.

The construction effort again was hindered by theunreliability of the Peter Snow Miller used to processthe snow foundation. Although the unit was operablefor longer periods during Deep Freeze 72 than in DeepFreeze 71, it still set back completion of the scheduledwork.

Other station constructionThe Brockton Station vans were replaced this past

season with the rehabilitated Little Jeana Station vans.The old vans were then retrograded to McMurdo. Inaddition to the vans, a Jamesway storage hut waserected at the station.

Problems with the rehabilitation of the old Byrdlongwire substation vans precluded completion of Si-pie Station this season. At Siple, the 66-meter arch,which will cover the station's buildings, was completed.The vans were erected and tested at McMurdo.

Future constructionThe major construction effort for Deep Freeze 73

will be at Pole Station, where approximately 120 Sea-bees are scheduled to complete the snow foundationand construct the geodesic dome, about 60 percentof the arch, the utilidor, portions of the mechanicaland electrical utilities and several buildings.

The three former Byrd longwire vans and a T-5building will be flown to Siple and installed under thearch. The men at McMurdo Station will completethe communication transmitter building and the heli-copter landing pad, construct a fuel line to the heli-copter landing pad, a catwalk around the frozen foodstorage facility, a vehicle storage facility, and a waterline to the photo lab.

Key construction personnelTask Force 43 Assistant Chief of Staff for Civil

Engineering: Commander Thomas L. Boennighausen,CEC, U.S. Navy. Construction and Equipment Offi-cer: Captain Hugh F. Boyd, III, EN, U.S. Army.

132 ANTARCTIC JOURNAL

South Pole Project Officer: Lieutenant John E. Perry,Jr., CEC, U.S. Navy. Commanding Officer, NMCB-71: Commander William E. Crosson, CEC, U.S.Navy.

Nuclear power operationsDeep Freeze 72

PAUL E. LINNChief Warrant Officer, U.S. Navy

Naval Nuclear Power UnitFort Belvoir, Virginia

During calendar 1971, the PM-3A nuclear powerplant at McMurdo Station established a new recordfor continuous power operation of military nuclearpower plants. On September 12, 1971, the PM-3Apassed the mark of 171 days set in 1967 by the PM-1,a former Air Force-operated nuclear power plant atSundance Air Force Station, Wyoming. When thePM-3A shut down at 1159 hours (McMurdo time),September 24, 1971, for a planned maintenance pe-riod, it had operated continuously for 4,400 hours and20 minutes—slightly over 183 days.

Crew X, which set the record, was composed of twoofficers and 23 enlisted men from the Army, Navy andAir Force. Lieutenant Commander Albert A. Arcuniwas officer in charge. Chief Warrant Officer Paul E.Linn was second in command, the plant superinten-dent.

The PM-3A was built by the Martin Company,Baltimore, Maryland, and installed on the side ofObservation Hill by Navy Mobile Construction Bat-talion One. The reactor first went critical on March45 1962, 10 years ago, and was initially operated underthe supervision of a contractor for the Atomic EnergyCommission. In 1964 it was turned over to the AtomicEnergy Commission for operation by the Navy.

Operating data for calendar year 1971, as comparedto previous years, are shown in tables 1 and 2.

Austral summer maintenance period

A new concept was introduced for the annual main-tenance period. Whereas in the past the relief crew,with the help of a few summer support personnel, haddone most of the work, this year a special maintenanceteam of 14 technicians plus a supervisor was formedat the Naval Nuclear Power Unit at Fort Belvoir,Virginia, and sent to the field in segments to domechanical, electrical, and instrumentation work inaccordance with a predetermined schedule. This ap-

proach proved highly effective and, with a few ex-ceptions, all planned work was completed in 46 days.

Water distillation plant

A new copper-nickel, flash evaporator, water dis-tillation unit, placed in service in February 1971, per-formed well throughout the year. Producing 54,500liters (14,400 gallons) a day, the new unit requiredless maintenance than the older carbon steel units,the oldest of which was disposed of during the yearbecause of extensive deterioration. Production by asecond carbon steel unit had dropped to approxi-mately 25 percent of rated capacity as the result ofdeterioration. Owing to the expected rate of waterusage during the early summer season, it was decidedto overhaul the second carbon steel unit. This tasktook more than 500 man-hours of labor. The recon-ditioned unit produced near rated capacity through-out the summer season.

Table 1. PM-3A electrical energy production, 1962-1971.Diesel-fuelequivalent'

of netMegawatt- production

Calendarflours atAvailabilityhours(thousand

year Power(percent)deliveredgallons)

2 1962 --1,803134

2 1963 --3,268242

19643,146642,410179

19655,333615,240389

19666,782776,780503

19677,555867,400549

19687,4718573680570

19696,911797,620565

19705,986686,736499

19716,244726,8645091962-197149,4287455,8014,139

'The conversion figure of 13.48 kwh per gallon of diesel fuelis derived from actual McMurdo diesel plant operations in1967.2 Contractor's tests, January 1, 1962 to June 9, 1964.3Estimated.4June 10 to December 31 only. See note 2.

Table 2. PM-3A water distillation, 1967-1971.Diesel fuel

Water distilledequivalent ofCalendar by nuclear energynet production

year (thousand gallons)(thousand gallons) I

1967 1,943 57

1968 2,168 63

1969 2,647 77

1970 1,924 56

1971 2,838 83'The conversion figure of 34.28 gallons of water per gallonof diesel fuel is derived by using the auxiliary boiler usage of17.5 gallons of diesel fuel per hour and the distallation unit'snormal output of 600 gallons of water per hour.

July-August 1972 133