Last May the NGEE Arctic team designed, built, and assembled
a 65-meter long tram on the Barrow Environmental Observatory (BEO). The tram
consisted of supports, rails, and a motorized cart that carried energy and
radiation sensors back and forth across the tundra every 3 hours. It has been
operating all summer with few problems. The reliability of the tram is a
testament to those who designed the system – Keith Lewin, Bryan Curtis, and
Paul Cook. Nice job guys!
Today we set about taking down the rails, supports, and cart
for the winter. Keith and Bryan are going to redesign a few things over the
winter and add a sensor or two. This will require strengthening the overall
infrastructure and reprogramming some of the software. Although this could be
done in the field, it makes sense to remove everything now (as per our North
Slope Borough (NSB) permit and other safety considerations) and reassemble the
new and improved system in the spring before snowmelt.
So, first thing this morning we set about strategically
removing clamps that held the rails, and the few nuts and bolts that held the
vertical supports. This literally took less than an hour. It was a pretty
impressive design with considerable thought given to how the tram could be
quickly assembled, and dissembled, in harsh weather. The hardest part was
transporting the 16 foot rails and upright supports back to our storage
facilities in Barrow. Sleds made this bearable and once everything was strapped
in place, John and Bryan could run them back to town in 30 minutes. Two trips were
required to get everything safely transported and stored until next spring.
Everyone was glad to have this completed before the end of
the day. The winds kicked up to 20 miles per hour this afternoon and the wind
chills dropped below -10F. Wind speeds are forecast to increase overnight and
into tomorrow so this was a task we were glad to check off our list.
