Ice hampers pier repairs
In a race against time. United States Navy workmen are rebuilding 130 ft of facing on Elliott Quay in Winter Quarters Bay’ near McMurdo Station to have the pier ready for the arrival of the first annual resupply ship next week.
Slabs of . broken ice alongside the pier are preventing Navy divers and welders from sinking the giant lOih “I” beams into the floor of the bay to take the facing timbers and the supply ship, the U.S.N.S. Mirfak, left Lyttelton on Sunday.
About two-thirds of the original steel and timberlined pier, 450 ft long, had
been completed when it was damaged by a severe storm) which swept across the Ross' Sea and Winter Quarters Bay) in March, last year. Winds: from 80 to 100 knots slammed great pieces of ice into the ; pier buckling more than 80) per cent of it. Although the United States) Coast Guard ice-breakers ' have broken an 11-mile chan-. nel into McMurdo Harbour, •
'the winds which were expected to move the brash ice ) out of the channel have not: developed. It is this broken ice which is hampering the reconstruction of pier fenders. ■ In spite of the set-backs, however. Deep Freeze officials are confident the new fenders will be ready when the U.S.N.S. Mirfak arrives about Wednesday next week.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19730110.2.85
Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33120, 10 January 1973, Page 10
Word Count
218Ice hampers pier repairs Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33120, 10 January 1973, Page 10
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Press. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Christchurch City Libraries.
Log in