Design and Construction of the Planned Research Station Neumayer III in the Antarctic

The Federal Republic of Germany operates research stations on the Ekstro¨m Ice Shelf west of the Atka Bay in the Antarctic since 1981. Due to the annual accumulation of snow and thereby increasing pressures, sub-surface stations have a limited service life time of about 15 years. The planned new Neumayer Station III ought to allow for the increased demands of scientific research and for the grown environmental awareness. The design concept considers an elevated station body and a service garage underneath. A hydraulic mechanism allows an annual lifting of the station to compensate for snow accumulation and settlements. Thus, the projected service life time for the new station is about 30 years, twice as long as for the existing station. The weather conditions in the Antarctic call for high standards of safety and functionality of the applied techniques and are the determining parameters for design and manufacturing of the station.