News

Activity: DISC Drill Test - Summit Greenland

Period: 5/08-5/13/2006

Weather Conditions:
Temperature range -25°C to +3°C, wind 2-20 knots. A bit breezy starting off the week, but a beautiful second half.

ICDS Personnel on Site:
Jay Johnson
Kristina Dahnert
Michael Jayred
Bill Mason
Nicolai Mortensen
Paul Sendelbach
Laurent Augustin
John Robinson

Other Personnel on Site:
Brent Folmer (Westphal & Company Inc.)
Ed Alexander (Westphal & Company Inc.)

Activities:

On Monday the second group of DISC personnel arrived along with the drill sonds and electronics. Our new main power distribution panel (MDP) also came in. Jayred was house mouse on Monday and Brent was out sick. Krissy and I finished up work in the slot, installed the last drip pan, and helped settle in our new crew members while Ed began installation of the new MDP. Brent and Ed had the new panel installed and the building electrical system fully up and running by Tuesday afternoon. The blue gantry crane we assembled last year fired up without a hitch and we immediately put it to work. The yellow gantry crane is now assembled and up and running too. The control room has been moved into place and we are in the process of moving the electronics into it. We have the yellow tower base installed and aligned with the pilot hole. The winch level wind, drum, and motor section are in place and ready for wiring this next week. Tower hydraulics and actuator are connected and running and the winch power cabinet has been placed. Power is wired to the cabinet. Wiring from the cabinet to the winch will be done this next week. The slot ventilation fan is installed and part of the ductwork is in. The tower trusses and crown sheave are assembled and installed on the trunion. We ran the tower through its full range of motion for the first time on Saturday. It moves very smoothly and controllably. VECO has finished up all of the handrails and stairs for the winch pit. They also built NICL's Weatherport, which is connected to the end of the DISC building. Paul and Nicolai spent some time organizing the electronics shop and ran diagnostics on the instrument sections. I assisted John with organizing the machine shop and setting up the mill and lathe. The MECC is now fully operational. Krissy has all of our safety equipment organized, fire extinguishers placed, and safety/warning signs put up. The DISC fire alarm system is also installed and operational.

It was a very busy week at DISC and a huge amount of work was completed. We finished up the week a bit tired, but very pleased with our accomplishments. All of our planning and attention to detail back in Madison is paying off now with a smooth assembly.

Comments (Problems, Concerns, Recommendations, etc):

We are experiencing a problem with one of our generators cycling. It appears to be fuel system related and is totally independent of load. Pat, the mechanic here, is working on trouble shooting it.

• Driller SITREP #3