The South Pole News (not to be confused, of course, with its rival newspaper, The New South Polar Times) editor Bill Spindler is reporting that construction has begun on a 1600 kilometer, $12 million, two year project to build a road from the giant US coastal base at Antarctica’s McMurdo Sound to the US Scott-Amundsen base located at 3000 meters elevation atop the South Pole. The road is the key to a major expansion of capabilities in the US Antarctic research program. Once the road is available, the uphill trip from ocean to pole is expected to take 20 days using convoys of caterpillar tractors and half that time on the downhill return. Sorry, official use only; no private use will be allowed. A $250 million fiber optic cable and system is expected to be installed three years after the road is finished that will revolutionize communications with the polar base, which is currently below the horizon of geosynchronous communications satellites and therefore has sporadic rather than continuous radio coverage. The fiber optic link is essential to allow for massive data collection on many upcoming Antarctic space observatory projects like Ice Cube. The road is also expected to simplify construction, maintenance and support of the new South Pole Station under construction and recently covered in Wired.
