11 August, 2000

Orientation Week Day 5

We had a tour of the CRREL facility this afternoon. There are 160 scientists working on projects and 290 people all together including the support staff. The facility began in 1961.

We were went into a -24 degree freezer Ice Archival Room. This area stores ice that has been brought back for further research. The first thing we noticed was the snow falling from the freezer door. We didn't have on parkas so needless to say, we were freezing! We also saw icicles and ice core samples.

We were fortunate enough to watch an experiment. This test was used to determine which rocks would be displaced under ice conditions. The tank was 120 feet wide and 30 feet long. The ice was made of water and urea. This helped to scale down the project to a workable model.

We saw a model of a perfect river. It controlled all of the variables. It is possible to control the waves to examine sediment, sediment transport, ice scouring, and overhead erosion.

We went to the ice hydraulics room to see how ice flows through the model of three locks. They were trying to find a way to redirect the ice.

We saw many other interesting things! This is a huge facility!

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