Abstract

Structural engineering in Antarctica presents unique technical and logistical challenges. With more than twenty-five years of experience, Murray Mitchell has been the lead structural engineer in New Zealand’s Antarctic programme. Projects include rebuilding of the Scott Base, structural assessments of Scott’s and Shackleton’s huts and wind turbines for Arrival Heights. This illustrated talk will focus on the technical challenges of ANDRILL , an international Antarctic drilling project where sedimentary cores are collected from beneath moving ice. The talk will also outline some of the general engineering techniques that New Zealand has utilised in one of the world’s most extreme environments.