McMurdo-South Pole highway

Infobox road
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highway_name= McMurdo-South Pole Highway
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alternate_name=
maint=


length_mi=900
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established=2007
decommissioned=
direction_a= South
terminus_a= Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station
direction_b= North
terminus_b= McMurdo Station
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McMurdo-South Pole highway is a 900-mile (1450 km) road in Antarctica to link the United States McMurdo Station on the coast to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. It was constructed by leveling snow and filling in crevasses, but not paved. Today caterpillar tractors are able to drive to the South Pole, which will take 10 days.

The construction started in late 2002. It was finished in the southern summer of 2006-2007.

The McMurdo Ice Shelf and the Antarctic Plateau are relatively stable. Most crevasses occur in the short, steep shear zone where the road would climb to over 2000 meters above sea level; this section of the road would need maintenance each season. The section has caused much more construction work than planned, since two different ice sheets move against each other here.

The project was funded by the United States National Science Foundation to provide a lower cost, potentially more reliable method of supplying the South Pole Station. Bad weather at McMurdo some summers has reduced the total number of supply flights the NSF could make to bring in construction supplies and scientific equipment.

The road also facilitated the heavy equipment needed to implement its proposed South Pole Connectivity Program, a planned optical fiber link between the South Pole and the French-Italian Concordia Station located at Dome C at the edge of the Antarctic Plateau; Concordia has 24-hour access to geosynchronous satellites. Such satellites cannot be used at the poles since they are below the horizon; the South Pole now uses a few older, low-bandwidth satellites that dip sufficiently south of the equator to be usable for several hours daily. These satellites are near the end of their life. A new road to McMurdo might provide a regularly maintained alternate route for such a link; however, opinions vary as to the shear zone section's suitability for a long-term cable. It's also possible the NSF may choose to deploy several special purpose satellites in polar orbits. [cite news|url=http://www.itworld.com/Tech/4535/021224southpoleonline/|title=South Pole online in 2009|publisher=ITworld|date=December 24, 2002]

A February 7, 2006 NSF press release stated that 110 tons of cargo had been successfully delivered overland to the South Pole Station in a "proof of concept" of the highway. [cite web|url=http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=105718|publisher=National Science Foundation|title=Icy Overland Trip May Add Ground Vehicles to South Pole Supply Missions (Press Release Press Release 06-024)|date=February 7, 2006]

References

External links

* [http://www.siteselection.com/ssinsider/snapshot/sf041213.htm USA's Science-Driven "Ice Highway" Hitting Rough Sledding in Antarctica] Online Insider, December 13, 2004
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,881101,00.html No, not a ski resort - it's the south pole] Guardian (UK), January 24, 2003
*cite news|url=http://outside.away.com/news/headlines/20030130_1.html|title=Construction Begins on South Pole Highway|publisher=Outside Online|date=January 30, 2003
*cite news|url=http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn3300|title=US building highway to the South Pole|publisher=New Scientist|date=January 23, 2003
* [http://www.nsf.gov/attachments/106772/public/nsffy2007_budgetrequest.pdf NSF FY 2007 Budget Request to Congress] -- see pages 197 to 203 for a discussion of the proposed highway
* [http://www.nsf.gov/attachments/102806/public/NSFFacilityPlan.pdf NSF 2005 Facility Plan] -- see page 53 for a brief overview of fiber vs. satellite links
* [http://www.southpolestation.com/news/traverse1.html Diagram of route with timeline of progress made to date]