Americans May Build Road to South Pole
A century after pioneer explorers with dogs and horse-drawn sleds tried to cross from the Antarctic coast to the South Pole, American engineers may carve a 1,000-mile track so supplies can be driven to the pole.
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“This is not a highway … or a road, more a trail or a route,” Brown told National Radio of the plan, which would cost about $350 million.
I can’t imagine a better use for $350 million.
Brown said the first phase of the project — filling huge crevasses with ice on fields 40 miles south of McMurdo — already is completed.Filling the giant ice cracks allows tracked vehicles to cross the 3-mile wide area, the first major hurdle on the route to the pole.
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Brown said the route proposal would come under the strict environmental protocols of the Antarctic Treaty, which preserves and protects the pristine environment of the frozen continent.
So filling three-mile-wide crevasses with ice is maintaining the pristine environment of Antarctica?