Fuel Drums raising

Michal Krzysztofowicz
Fri, 30 Sep 2016 21:24:31 +0100

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Fuel is the lifeline of Halley and everything here depends on it, from running the generatos to generate electricity and heat, to running vehicles, to melting the snow for water. There is always at least two years worth of fuel supplies stored here, some of it in bulk tanks (each 22 cubic metres in capacity), and some in 205 litre fuel drums (the latter ones primarily used for refueling aircraft). The fuel drums are stored in several stacks of 200 drums each and, as with everything else, they get buried in the snow over the course of the winter and need to be dug out and raised each season.

In preparation for incoming aircraft, we lifted two full fuel drum stacks (400 drums) onto sledges. The actual lifting and moving of the drums is done by a Nodwell crane, but once they are laid down on the sledge, they need to be manually flipped up to standing position so they fit on the sledge and so the fuel pumps can be used on them.