"Neumayer III, which sits on over 650 feet of ice on the Ekstrom Ice Shelf and is one of 70 permanent research stations in Antarctica, was designed to host Antarctic researchers year-round, from meteorologists to geophysicists. It also has a fascinating design to fight back the hostile environment that destroyed its predecessors: it was built on 16 hydraulic stilts that lift the 20,000-square-foot and 2,200-ton facility over the surface of the ice."
"In an astonishing video, Swiss engineer and Neumayer III technical lead Thomas Schenk - who's been stationed at Neumayer III since 2024, where he oversees overwintering procedures- shows how the system works. "Everything here in Antarctica that isn't built on rock will inevitably sink into the snow sooner or later," he wrote in the caption of the video, which has since gone viral on social media."
Neumayer III sits on over 650 feet of ice on the Ekstrom Ice Shelf and functions as one of roughly 70 permanent Antarctic research stations. Two predecessors, Neumayer Station and Neumayer Station II, were vacated after shifts in snow and ice. The current 20,000-square-foot, 2,200-ton complex is mounted on 16 hydraulic stilts that are periodically hoisted so engineers can scoop new snow beneath and relevel the structure. Shifting ice and ice-shelf disintegration have pushed the station closer to the coast, requiring careful weekly alignment and ongoing maintenance overseen by technical staff.
Read at Futurism
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]