Infrastructure & Transportation
The Future Big Machines of the Iceless Arctic
The Big Machines Bringing Industry—and War—to the Melting Arctic
As the ice recedes, these trains, ships, and helicopters will make the Arctic a busy hive of economic and military activity.
By Joe Pappalardo Published: Jan 3, 2018
The record-low temperatures blanketing much of the U.S. have come as a rude surprise for most of us. But such extreme conditions will soon become a way of life for a lot of people as new possibilities open at the far ends of the Earth.
The Arctic's receding ice is a reality, and while that's a troubling sign for the world's climate, these newly navigable waters mean more jobs offered by oil companies, militaries, oligarchs, mining corporations, and even the Kremlin. But melting ice doesn't mean it's warm up there. People and the machines they operate—cold-resistant trains, snow-hardened shipping vessels, or ice-proof rescue helicopters—have to work in temperatures ranging from -22 degrees to -50 degrees Fahrenheit.
It's a climate once thought nearly impossible to make viable, economically or otherwise. But our warming planet is slowly making the impossible less so. Here are a few plans already in the works for how humans will explore and exploit the Arctic.
The Frostbite Express
The Obskaya–Bovanenkovo Line, the northernmost train line in the world.
Vladimir Putin wants a railroad in the Arctic for selling oil, gas, and minerals. That's the origin story of the Northern Latitudinal Railway, a 707-kilometer (440-mile) train line that will begin construction in 2018 at a cost of nearly $3.5 billion.
"We are getting a direct access to international export markets in Europe and the Asian-Pacific Region," says Dmitry Kobylkin, the governor of the Russian territory the train will cross.
Because Canada thought up a similar plan in 2012, we have a good idea of what it takes to run a train through such a frigid wasteland. The Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation's plan called for a long rail line to bring iron ore to market, and though they found the operation to be possible, it was far from easy.
"North America, and other countries; do successfully operate trains in the extreme temperatures that are common in the Canadian Arctic," the study notes. "An arctic railway, however, will have to operate in the extreme cold on a regular basis rather than an occasional basis."
The first problem is designing the tracks. Permafrost becomes unstable as it thaws, complicating any layout that puts the tracks on a slope. Digging lines for fiberoptic cables is not feasible, magnetic interference from space messes with satellites (so signaling must be done with microwave emitters and VHF backups), and infrastructure along the route is designed to keep people indoors.
"A breakdown in the isolated Arctic could mean the death of the crew."
So such a special environment will also need specialized trains. Diesel engines optimized for highway driving in more temperate climes will lose horsepower in the dense, cold air of the Arctic. Ice plows need to be fit onto the leading car to cut through clumps of ice. Filters must be installed to keep fine snow from clogging radiators. The vehicle must only use cold-resistant steel, and its fuel tanks must have a "hot well" to keep the diesel warm. Even gaskets in the air brakes must be custom made since they shrink at colder temperatures and leak.
No details are too small to overlook because a breakdown in the isolated Arctic could mean the death of the crew, a nightmare scenario that must be avoided at all costs. The train's heating system is designed with double and triple redundancy, and Arctic survival suits are stashed in every train, just in case. Because if the weather doesn't kill you first, the surrounding fauna will.
"All cabs must also be fitted with a rifle and lockable rifle case due to polar bear threat," the study adds.
After years of planning and environmental assessment the corporation abandoned the Baffin rail idea and instead went with trucks. The fate of Russia's NLR is as uncertain as any of the nation's large infrastructure plans, but it's likely that Putin won't dither and backtrack in a similar way.
The Art of Sub-Zero Shipping
Less sea ice and more commerce means more water traffic, and more traffic means more danger. There's enough worry now that the European Union is funding a consortium of engineering firms and universities to find ways to make it safer. This three-year research project is called SEDNA, which stands for "Safe Maritime Operations Under Extreme Conditions: the Arctic Case."
SEDNA has many enemies, with ice being the biggest. Aside from clogging shipping lanes, ice destabilizes ships by adding weight to upper decks. "SEDNA will develop anti-icing engineering solutions to reduce the impact of ice formation on vessel stability, safety equipment and on-board safety," the group's website reads.
The consortium will also analyze the implications of using low flash point fuels (instead of fossil fuels) in ships, and research nanotechnology and molecular science to automatically fight ice on the ship's surface. Instead of a deck crew chipping at ice by hand, the ship's own structure would detect and repel ice when needed.
Even compasses act squirrelly at high latitudes.
The ships themselves could use a redesign for the far north. "Vessels operating in the Arctic have bridges that are largely the same in layout and equipment fit as vessels operating elsewhere...they are not fit for purpose for Arctic operations," according to SEDNA. "The difficulties of navigating a vessel in the harsh environment of the Arctic, with its extreme weather and the presence of ice, put the crew under severe stress."
A big part of that stress is a lack of decent navigation at the poles. Global positioning satellites have a tough time getting a good line of sight on ships at the poles, making space-based navigation unreliable. Simply put, current GPS satellites in geostationary orbits that are not built to cover the poles. Even compasses act squirrelly at high latitudes.
"Inherent navigation technology limitations…cause bridge teams who lack experience of operating in the Arctic to be at increased risk of making potentially dangerous misjudgments and errors," SEDNA says.
The good news is that more satellite operators are entering the market, offering new geostationary ones and smaller, low earth orbit sats that could soon help with polar navigation.
Welcome to Port Frigid
Murmansk, Russia, 2014.
DigitalGlobe/ScapeWare3d//Getty Images
Putin's proposed polar express would connect to Murmansk, an already bustling seaport that lies at the heart of Russia's quest to dominate the Arctic. The average low during the coldest part of the year is around 7 degrees Fahrenheit, with regular stretches below zero during the winter. This makes this Barents Sea port warm by Arctic standards, and the port remains ice-free, but its still frigid compared to just about anywhere else.
The new focus on the north means new equipment. The port spent $3.3 million on two giant new pneumatic cranes that are designed to function in Arctic temperatures. Bigger cranes mean more containers being moved around, which means more cargo capacity.
The German firm J.D. Neuhaus is the king of the cold crane market, and it sells all manner of trolleys, cranes, manipulators, and hoists, some specialized for use in harsh conditions. For customers with operations in deep cold, JDN designed a special line called Hydraulic Monorail Hoists which work at temperatures down to -50 Fahrenheit.
As you can imagine, starting a fluid-based hydraulic system in the Arctic is not easy. JDN's cold weather hoists have preheating devices and heat the system to -13 degrees, which is just warm enough for the crane to work.
View of the terminal tanker Kola docking at Murmansk.
rosmorport.ru
Usually Russia's aspirations aim to reduce dependency on other nations, but a similar strategy will not be so easy in the Arctic. Before 2016, fleets of small tankers owned by Russian oil giant Lukoil transferred Arctic oil loads into supertankers parked in nearby Norwegian waters. But this ship-to-ship reloading now occurs in Murmansk.
In late 2017 a new "terminal tanker," called the Kola, arrived at Murmansk. It can carry more than 330,000 tons of cargo to Europe and Asia. The tanker is so massive that the port says it took 24 hours to dock it for the first time, just before the New Year.
With the big cranes and big ship in place, Putin is ready to make Murmansk a centerpiece of Russian trade and commerce in the 21st century.
A New Kind of Cold War
But where some shipping CEOs might see dollar signs in the Arctic, militaries see different kinds of opportunities—and threats. After all, the shortest distance between NATO countries and Russia is through the Arctic Circle, and new military equipment is starting to show up at the North Pole, custom-made to operate in the chill.
Canada has an obvious interest in cold-weather operations. Even with a slender defense budget, the country's military will float the first of its new Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships in 2018. The vessel is built to protect its equipment and 65-person crew, and the machinery on the foredeck is enclosed to shield it from the weather. The entire upper deck, crew quarters, and deckhouse live in heated bubbles as well. It's got a vehicle bay that can deploy ATVs and snowmobiles for missions on shore, and the fin stabilizers, used to keep the ship from rolling on ocean waves, can be retracted when the vessel is sailing through ice.
The ship will also carry aircraft, including the CH-148 helicopter. Developed during a tortured 20-year period, the fully operational version of the Cyclone will be delivered to the Canadian military in 2018. Its aluminum and composite airframe can carry out rescue missions or hunt submarines in temperatures as low as -60 degrees Fahrenheit.
Royal Canadian Air Force
But it won't be the only new helicopter in the Arctic. Russia recently modified its mainstay Mi-8 helicopter for arctic operation, calling it the Mi-8AMTSh-VA. It has more powerful engines, thick cabin insulation and a system to warm the powerplants and transmission. This helo can fly at -76 Fahrenheit, according to the Russian media. It's got a longer range than other Mi-8s and can travel 1,400 kilometers using an inertial navigation system that doesn't rely on satellites.
With the inevitable reality of a navigable Arctic, nations are only beginning to analyze economic and military possibilities. But even if our planet is warming, it will still take some creative engineering to survive out in the cold.
Joe Pappalardo is a frequent contributor to Popular Mechanics and author of the new book, Spaceport Earth: The Reinvention of Spaceflight.
Joe Pappalardo
Joe Pappalardo is a contributing writer at Popular Mechanics and author of the new book, Spaceport Earth: The Reinvention of Spaceflight.
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