Elliotts Supports BAM With Antarctica Project
The MV Billesborg ship arriving at the new Rothera Wharf. Credit: BAM
In January 2017, BAM, a valued customer of Elliotts, began work with ‘The British Antarctic Survey’ (BAS) on the Antarctic Infrastructure Modernisation Programme (AIMP).
One of the AIMP projects, the ‘Rothera Modernisation Project’, saw construction begin in January 2020, and the Discovery Building will be the largest BAS building in Antarctica. The building is named after the (RRS) Discovery, commanded by Captain Robert Falcon Scott CVO, on its first scientific research expedition (1902 to 1904).
The planned two-storey 4,500m2 building will accommodate a plant room and energy centre, a central store for equipment and cargo, workshops and preparation areas to support science and field expeditions, a new operations hub and offices, a communications tower, a new medical centre, training facilities and wellbeing areas. This replaces a number of older buildings, stores and workshops.
Back in 2021, Elliotts were chosen by BAM to supply materials for the build, and Ed Butcher, our Group Drylining & Insulation Manager at the time, now Business Development Manager, worked over two months arranging the order of the materials and organising the logistics.
In November of that year, our Southampton branch team worked 12-hour days over two weekends to load, by hand, 22 20ft containers with materials such as;
- 2,400 Individual Sheets of James Hardie Fermacell
- Rockwool Rock Fibre Slabs
- Isover Partition Roll
- Screws
- Tapes
- Compounds
- Fine Surface Treatment
Each container had to be bio secure, which included our teams thoroughly cleaning every container, sealing vents and holes and photographing to demonstrate compliance. It was also crucial that nothing got wet, which is no small feat for our team during a British Winter. The sealed containers also required desiccants to be placed inside to prevent the build-up of condensation over the one-month sea voyage.
The project is still underway, with the Rothera Discovery Building expected to complete in 2025.
We're incredibly proud with how we've been able to support BAM with this project so far, and we look forward to seeing the progress over the next few years.
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