Ice pier
An ice pier is a man-made structure used to assist the unloading of ships in Antarctica. It is constructed by pumping seawater into a contained area and allowing the water to freeze. By repeating this procedure several times, additional layers are built up. The final structure is many metres in thickness, and strong enough to support container trucks. Operation Deep Freeze personnel constructed the first floating ice pier at Antarctica’s southernmost sea port at McMurdo Station in 1973. Ice piers have been in use each summer season since, at McMurdo’s natural harbor at Winter Quarters Bay located at 77°50′S 166°40′E / 77.833°S 166.667°E. The harbor is positioned on the southern tip of Ross Island.
Historically, two supply ships, a freighter and a tanker, arrive at the ice pier each summer, after an icebreaker opens a ship channel through pack ice. The ice pier’s key function is to provide a platform for freight trucks to come alongside a supply ship to receive or offload cargo. Steel cables attached to shoreline hold the dock in a fixed position.
Port officials distribute freight arriving at the dock to McMurdo Station, nearby Scott Base, and to field camps as far away as the South Pole. Imports include virtually any materials needed to support personnel living and working in Antarctica. Exports range from items such as scientific ice core samples and human waste collected from field camps to broken equipment and recyclables for return to the United States for processing.
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