The Dumont D'Urville aerodrome, Terre Adelie, Antarctica

Abstract

Under satisfactory technical and ecological conditions, a coastal airstrip with the necessary security requirements for medium carriers will be constructed in Terre Adélie by October 1992. Inspired by the “Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises” (TAAF), it will provide better opportunities for scientific research with air access from Dumont d'Urville to Dome “C”, the planned research base. It will enable summer campaigns to benefit fully from the season without ice restrictions and it will reduce the need for a passenger cargoboat. The only possibility for achieving this is to connect islands by means of a causeway along the same axis as the prevailing wind. The “Expeditions Polaires Françaises” have thoroughly researched the site in “Pointe Geologie Archipelago” and have carried out a complete study of the local environment by collating all the observations concerning wind, sea swell, current, pack ice and geological features. These have led to a theoretical causeway model and consequently to an “experimental model” where studies of swell-ice-structure interactions, stability in the presence of ice and measurements of swellings, tide and porosity of the embankment have been made. Revetment tests have allowed for the construction of a bi-layered roadway. To date, the causeway reaches the last island. The main island has been blasted and a zone has been prepared for the future hangar and control tower. Nearly 4% of the cost of the project will be used to protect the fauna (new nesting zones, movement to protected areas and enclosure of the airstrip). Observations made during the 1989 winter show that this causeway does not disturb the migration of Emperor penguins.