China is sending 189 construction workers on its 24th scientific
expedition to Antarctica in mid-November to expand two scientific
research stations.
The workers, all from the China Railway Construction Engineering
Group (CRCEG), will help extend the two permanent stations named
Changcheng (Great Wall) and Zhongshan, Xinhua learned on Monday at
a ceremony to send off the workers.
They will leave for the South Pole from Shanghai on Tuesday on
the a scientific exploration ship "Xuelong", or "snow dragon". Ten
projects are to be constructed, including a space observation
station, garage, warehouse, garbage and sewage discharge system,
boiler house, high-frequency radar room and oil tanker.
The projects, aimed at meeting the demands of scientific
research, living conditions for exploration team members and
environmental conservation, would 3,880 square meters and be
completed in two to three years, sources said.
"It is the first time for China to conduct large-scale
construction there with modern building materials," a source said,
adding the expansion would greatly enhance China's overall
exploration of the Antarctic area.
CRCEG workers had been the South Pole with scientists on five
previous occasions since 2002, mainly to oversee logistic supply
for the two stations, and had gained much experience in working
under tough conditions.
Work would only be conducted from December to February, the
Antarctic summer, the company said. It had set up a logistical base
in Shanghai and mapped a detailed project plan to ensure the
Antarctic environment would be protected.
The Chinese scientific expedition team, comprising 219
explorers, will fix the site of China's third scientific research
station at the South Pole, a planned observatory with seven
telescopes and one acoustic radar at Dome A, the highest point on
the continent at 4,093 meters above sea level.
China launched its first expedition to the Antarctic in
1984.
(Xinhua News Agency November 6, 2007)