One of their first evolutions was to help dig out Williams Field and prepare it for flight operations:
Digging things out (DVIDS).
A group hero shot at the Williams Field sign (DVIDS).A significant project was preparing for the arrival of the permanent steel barge pier that will be delivered in 2025-26. Their McMurdo effort was to drill holes to secure the permanent steel barge pier which will be coming down in 2025-26 (this year 2024-25 the mobile pontoon causeway will be used again).
Excavating/snow removal at the pier site. Note the new dorm in the background.
A plan view of the barge pier which will be coming down in 2025-26 (more info). Note the 4 struts that will require anchors on shore...the piles for which were being drilled by the Seabees.
Positioning one of the templates used for locating the pile
Drilling one of the barge pier anchor piles.The team successfully drilled 12 holes, 72 feet/22m deep and 26 inches/650mm in diameter. The plan was not to install the piles until after this season's sealift, as they'd be in the way. Interestingly this work was monitored by Antarctica New Zealand (ANZ) rather than NSF/ASC.
Additionally, some members of the team assisted with the surveying
Early December, shortly before their departure for Port Hueneme,Meanwhile, at the end of November some members of the team spent about a week at Pole!
They helped clear up some of the surveying/mapping/snowdrift
Another surveying photo.
They also worked on preassembling components of IceCube's Digital Optical Module (DOM) facility for the IceCube Upgrade which will kick off next season.
Another look at the work on the panels for the DOM facility.
The DVIDS photos above were taken by LTJG Karena Garcia (more DVIDS photos here), and here is their privacy/publicity/usage information page. The other uncredited photos are from the NMCB-3 Facebook page. Other information comes from Matty Jordan who was working with Antarctica New Zealand (ANZ) on this project.
