1,200 tons of cargo arrived on King George Island, including construction elements of the new building of the Henryk Arctowski Polish Antarctic Station. This year its foundations will be laid. A steel frame of this structure will also be built, the station reconstruction coordinator, Dr. Dariusz Puczko, told PAP (Polish Press Agency).
The Henryk Arctowski Polish Antarctic Station is one of about 40 year-round stations located in the southern hemisphere in the South Shetland Islands, on King George Island.
In November 2018, the Ministry of Science transferred PLN 88 million for the modernization of the station’s infrastructure and the construction of a new main building. The design of the new station was prepared in 2015 by the Kuryłowicz & Associates studio.
“In total, 1200 tons of cargo have already arrived on King George Island, including elements of the new station building – its foundations in the form of precast concrete elements and its steel structure. Only this year it was 120 tons in 17 containers,” the Antarctic logistics coordinator of the Institute of Biophysics and Biochemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences (the facility manages the station) and the reconstruction coordinator, Dr. Dariusz Puczko, told PAP.
This means that the heaviest elements, including machines to facilitate the work, have already been transported to the site.
“We brought them ashore with a pontoon bridge and an amphibious vehicle,” he said