New Civil Engineer - Tom Pashby
08 March 2024
The runway at Rothera Research Station, a British Antarctic Survey (BAS) base, has been resurfaced by Bam with designs by Ramboll.
The upgrades were part of BAS’s Antarctic Infrastructure Modernisation Programme (AIMP) to improve the capability of the station at Rothera which is a major hub for international science in Antarctica.
The runway was originally constructed in 1990 and sits on the coast of Adelaide Island. The island is mainly covered in ice, but the runway is made of a combination of materials including crushed rock.
Upgrades to the runway include resurfacing, new runway lighting for enhanced aircraft safety, improved drainage infrastructure and a new turning circle.
BAS said it resurfaced the runway using existing materials, eliminating the need to import materials and their associated carbon impact.
[Read more: Antarctic runway upgraded to support ‘deep-field’ research | New Civil Engineer]
