8 August, 2001

Greetings from Hanover, New Hampshire,

The orientation for the members traveling to the Arctic or Antarctic for the 2002/2003 research season began on Monday and has been an incredibly informative experience. I had many questions and concerns regarding this program. What will be required of me? Where will I be going? What research project will I be working on? The numerous presentations thus far have really opened my eyes, and I am very excited about the program that I am now a part of. Several researchers have presented information regarding their individual projects, and past parcticipants have shared their experiences. There is so much exciting research being conducted both in Antarctica and the arctic.

Today we, the new members of the TEA program were given a tour of CRREL (Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory) which is located here in Hanover, and has been the site of the orientation this week. CRREL is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers facility whose function is research and engineering focused on cold areas. The site is quite large, covering around 30 acres, and consists of many independent buildings.

The tour covered several of the buildings. The Ice Engineering Facility contained several large tanks used to model real situations. As we entered the building the smell of ammonia lingered in the air. Len Zabilanski, a research civil engineer leading our tour of this building, informed us that the ammonia smell was from the cooling system used for the research. He said with a grin, "If the cold doesn't get you, the ammonia will." One recent project involved modifying a lock to better allow the movement of ship traffic during times of ice build-up. During times of heavy ice flow, when the locks are opened ice will move in ahead of the ship or barge and slow or prevent the movement of the vessel. The model that was tested involved forcing air bubbles into the water from beneath as the vessel entered the lock. This forced the ice out of the lock, and allowed the ship to move in and out relatively unimpeded. The ice was then allowed to move down an alternate lock to help keep the channel free for future ships.

A second building that was toured was the Frost Effects Research Facility. The building was very large, open on both ends and reminded me of a large bus garage. As we entered the building, two men on their knees were scraping a bed of crushed rock with trowels and placing white sensors in the ground. The main function of this facility was to conduct research on the ground surface and below. A recent project that was conducted here involved looking at alternate subsurface materials for roads. Cycles of freezing and thawing can cause frost heaving that cracks and structurally weakens road surfaces. The traditional crushed rock subsurface has the potential to hold large quantities of water, thus increasing the effects of the heaving. The experiments that were tested involved laying down man-made materials (similar to carpets) between the subsurface and the asphalt. Sensors were put in place beneath the fabric and asphalt to measure stresses.

A heavy vehicle simulator, a very large machine that can apply forces similar to automobile traffic was used to roll tires across the areas being tested. This machine can model many years of vehicle traffic over a much shorter time. While the vehicle traffic is being simulated the roadbed is put through cycles of freezing and thawing, and the sensors are used to measure stresses. The results of experiments like these may one day help to develop paving systems that last longer, require less maintenance and are therefore cheaper in the long run.

I was very impressed with the entire tour. It is exciting to clearly see the application of science to real situations. As I observed the many different facilities of the CRREL one question continued to surface for me; can I as a teacher help make science as meaningful and practical to my students as what I observed during this tour?

Life Is Good!

Ice engineering Facility at CRREL. Model of a lock system to allow for = better vessel movement during times of high ice flow.

The Heavy Vehicle Simulator located in the Frost Effects Research = Facility. This enormous machine can model many years of heavy road = traffic over a short period of time.