South pole beckons AJE team for second stint
Two teams from AJ Engineering will be heading to Antarctica for a second time.
Last year, the company secured work at the British Antarctic Survey’s (BAS) remote Rothera Research Station, where temperatures can plunge as low as -34C and a team of 12 workers were deployed.
Now eight of the team will return to continue work at the station.
A team of steel erectors will leave for Antarctica in mid-November and the cladding squad will follow them out in mid-December.
AJE is working on behalf of client BAM Nuttall who have an ongoing relationship with BAS and have secured a 10-year, £500m contract to upgrade and extend their polar research stations.
Last year, the journey to reach the destination which is 8000 miles away took over 20 days to complete due to the Covid-19 pandemic, however, this time, the journey will be more simple and take a lot less time.
The works will involve various tasks including erecting steel and installing the cladding on the new ‘Discovery Building’ which will replace the current science and operations building.
Their deployment to Rothera is part of a three-year project for AJ Engineering.
Ross Jack who is one of the employees returning said: “The goal of this stint is to make the building water tight and we are all looking froward to being able accomplish that. The weather was actually pretty good when we were out there last year, so we are hoping for more of that. We are out for longer this time, but everyone who is going has been before so we know what to expect when we are there.”
