Metal buildings at the French antarctic base on Ile des Pétrels

Abstract

In 1955 a new station was opened at Ile des Pétrels, off the coast of Terre Adélie, as part of the French contribution to the International Geophysical Year. The author and M. Vallette, who had planned the station at Port-Martin, investigated the properties of a number of prefabricated buildings in order to choose the most suitable type for the new station. The record of fires in polar buildings made it obvious that the materials used should, if possible, be non-inflammable in addition to being light, compact and easy to handle. Finally a metal type was selected, made by the firm of Fillod, Florange, Moselle. These buildings have many advantages. They are non-inflammable, and therefore fire breaking out inside them would be comparatively easy to control; in the fire at Port-Martin (in 1952) a hole had been burnt through the wooden roof of the hut and the forced draught so created, with the aid of a strong wind, made control of the fire impossible. These metal buildings are 30 per cent lighter, and far less cumbersome, than wooden prefabricated buildings of the same size. Fillod buildings had been in use on Ile Amsterdam since 1950 and Iles de Kerguelen since 1951 where they had successfully stood up to winds of 200 km./hour. The U.S. Navy had tested these buildings and proved that they could withstand weights of snow equivalent to 140 kg./sq.m. and a wind force of 160 km./hour. The average wind force at Ile des Pétrels was 34·2 km./hour.