by Kyle Molyneux | Tue 05 Nov 2019
Lokotrack machines in Antarctica
Metso is delivering three Lokotrack crushing and screening plants retrofitted for extreme cold for the reconstruction of the US National Science Foundation’s (NSF) McMurdo research station in Antarctica. The equipment enables crushing in temperatures as low as -40C.
McMurdo Station, located on an island in the Ross Sea, is the US Antarctic Program’s logistics hub and the largest of the three stations that the US operates in Antarctica. McMurdo is being rebuilt under the Antarctic Infrastructure and Modernization for Science (AIMS) project, a long-range initiative to upgrade the station to make it logistically and energy efficient.
Metso’s equipment will be used for three years in crushing the ground materials for the new buildings. All in all, this will amount to more than 126,000 cubic metres of aggregates. In the extreme conditions of Antarctica, the equipment can only be used during the Southern Hemisphere summer, which lasts from October to April. The hard basalt to be crushed will come from an area near the station.
The equipment to be delivered to Antarctica – the Lokotrack LT106 jaw crusher plant, the LT200HP cone crusher and the ST3.8 mobile screen – are all retrofitted for extreme cold. In addition, the mechanics at Metso’s Technology Center for track-mounted equipment in Tampere, Finland have also developed additional protections for the equipment. As they oversee the AIMS project, Leidos intends to operate the machines for two months after their arrival in 2020, before ceasing operations for the winter.
The crushing plants began their long journey, spanning nearly the entire globe, at the beginning of October. From Finland, the equipment was shipped to Germany and from there to Port Hueneme, California, from where it will travel onward to Antarctica via Christchurch, New Zealand. The final leg of the journey will be led by an icebreaker, followed by two vessels carrying a total of 35 earthwork machines. The cargo is expected to reach the McMurdo harbor at the beginning of February next year.
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