document: South Pole 's First Building Blown Up After 53 Years Only a select few ever make it to the South Pole . Still fewer get to blow things up there . And only one man has the distinction of blowing up a piece of real estate at the South Pole that he once called home . '' `` It was a little sad , but the day goes on , '' '' said John Rand , a consulting engineer with the U.S. Army 's Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory -LRB- CRREL -RRB- . Last December , the Antarctic Sun recently reported , Rand was part of a crew charged with dynamiting a piece of history - the very first permanent dwelling ever built at the South Pole . -LSB- Related : Extreme Living : Scientists at the End of the Earth . -RSB- In the decades since it was constructed in the mid 1950s , the long-abandoned outpost was swallowed up by the ever-shifting snows of the frozen continent . And , after a frightening accident , the original South Pole station had to go . Rand , a specialist in drilling ice cores - long cylinders of ice pulled up from glaciers - passed his first South Pole stay at the station , a four-month exercise in long hours , isolation and bachelor living , from late 1971 to early 1972 . Even then , the station was 15 or 20 feet -LRB- 4.5 or 6 meters -RRB- below the surface . Chambers called top hats - giant boxes with roughly the same dimensions as the station 's identical buildings - had been stacked atop the structures to keep their roofs above the snow , which tends to compact and thus sink under a building while snow blows in and piles up around it . '' `` In essence , the terrain is rising , '' '' said George L. Blaisdell , operations manager for the National Science Foundation 's U.S. Antarctic Program , who explained that the physics at work at the South Pole makes building there difficult . '' `` The elevation at the South Pole has n't changed in the last 50 years , '' '' Blaisdell told OurAmazingPlanet , '' `` but if you put something on the surface and came back a year later , it would be further down in the snowpack . '' '' That 's precisely what happened to the old South Pole station . By the time Rand helped blow the station up in December , it was 30 feet -LRB- 9 meters -RRB- below the surface . However , the long-abandoned station once played a pivotal role in scientific and world history . First in , never out The original station was a no-frills military affair - essentially a series of glorified boxes made from sturdy wooden beams and plywood . The research base was built by the Seabees , the Navy 's construction unit ; building on the structure began in late 1956 and the station was dedicated in January 1957 . The project stemmed from the International Geophysical Year -LRB- IGY -RRB- , an 18-month period of coordinated scientific endeavor from July 1957 to December 1958 , when countries including the United States , the then Soviet Union and several European nations sent thousands of researchers out into the wild and little-explored regions of the planet to push the boundaries of Earth science . The Americans christened the base the Amundsen-Scott IGY South Pole Station , to honor the only other humans to ever set foot at the Pole ahead of the seminal construction . People had first and last been to the Pole nearly five decades earlier in 1911 , during the famed race that pitted Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen against doomed Englishman Robert Falcon Scott . -LRB- Amundsen won the race , and Scott died on the return journey from the pole . -RRB- -LSB- Related : In Images - Race for the South Pole . -RSB- At the conclusion of the IGY , when the time came to pack up and go home , the Americans decided to stay put in their little station at 90 degrees south latitude . Not only was great science happening at the South Pole , but a permanent U.S. station at the literal convergence of the planet 's longitude lines had enormous strategic value . '' `` The U.S. felt that by being at the geographic South Pole , we would have something of a claim , if you will , '' '' Blaisdell said , '' `` and having been there longer than anyone else , be able to put pressure on other people trying to divvy up Antarctica . '' '' The Americans ' extended stay in Antarctica and at the Pole was one of several geopolitical circumstances that paved the way for the Antarctic Treaty , signed in 1959 - the world 's first nuclear arms agreement and a milestone international decision to leave the frozen continent free of territorial claims by any country . The treaty is still in force today . Danger zone The original Amundsen-Scott station was largely abandoned in 1974 for a newer station nearby , constructed under a dome . That station , in turn , was recently abandoned for a brand new Amundsen-Scott facility , dedicated in 2008 - a gleaming construction perched atop 36 stilts that can be ratcheted higher when the snow begins to encroach . Rand said the original station , invisible beneath the snow , was marked out on the surface by flags that covered an area about 150 by 300 to 400 feet -LRB- 45 by 90 to 120 meters -RRB- . To prepare to demolish the station , Rand and his colleagues drilled a warren of holes down to the topmost level of the buried station and threaded dynamite down into the snow . Over the course of three days in early December , the charges were detonated , collapsing the roof of the station and creating a large crater in the snow . Rand said it was with mixed emotions that he watched the explosions shoot snow high into the air . '' `` It was truly the end of that station . The year before it was intact and now it 's put to bed , '' '' Rand said . However , he said , it had to be done . The area was dangerous . A year earlier , despite the visible network of flags marking the perimeter of the site , a giant tractor somehow ended up atop the former station . The snow collapsed beneath the weight of the massive machine , which crashed through the top roof of the old station . The driver was n't hurt , but ended up at the bottom of a 30-foot -LRB- 9-m -RRB- hole . He was quickly retrieved by crews on harnesses , but getting the tractor out proved to be tricky . The accident was a wake-up call , according to Blaisdell and Rand , and the wheels were put in motion to remove the danger . Video Link : http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/U0d_3vjt4Gk?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0 '' `` A year before a friend almost got hurt badly , and we needed to solve that problem , '' '' Rand said . '' `` And that 's what we did . '' '' The giant crater that remains where the station once stood has already begun to fill up with snow , and Blaisdell said the area would be safe for new construction soon , perhaps as early as 2013 . With its high altitude , dry conditions and extreme vantage point , the South Pole offers some of the best observing conditions on Earth , and the newly opened-up real estate is highly coveted among scientists brimming with ideas . '' `` It 's just a matter of deciding which ones have the best possible payoff , '' '' Blaisdell said . * North vs. South Poles : 10 Wild Differences * Extreme Living : Scientists at the End of the Earth * The Coldest Places on Earth Copyright © 2011 LiveScience.com . All Rights Reserved . This material may not be published , broadcast , rewritten or redistributed .
doc_bio_tags: B I O O B I I O O O O O B O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I I O O O B I O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O B O O O B O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O B O O B I B O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O B B I B O O O O B O O B I I I I O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O B O O O O O O B O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O B I B O O O O B O O O B O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O B B O O O O O O B O O O B I O O O B I O B O O O B O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O B O O O B I O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B B O B O O B B I B O O B O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I I I O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O B B O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O B O B O O B O O O O O B O O B O O O O O B O O O O O B B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B B O B B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O B B O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O B B O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O B O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O B O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O