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Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL)

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Improved ice removal patent

Dr. Emily Asenath-Smith displays an ice laminate grown on a surface using her patented invention, “Vertical draw system and method for surface...

02

New cold weather facilities

Olivier Montmayeur, a research mechanical engineer at U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center Cold Regions Research and Engineering...

03

National OHWM Data Sheet

The National Technical Committee for Ordinary High Watermarks (OHWM), made up of researchers from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development...

04

Testing new oil cleanup method

Kate Trubac, a Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory research general engineer, oversees an in-situ burn experiment conducted with the...

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05

Mapping at the speed of light

A unique team of experts uses Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) to scan areas to create incredibly detailed maps of them.

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About CRREL

The Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory is solving challenges in all climates, particularly Earth’s coldest regions.

Welcome

At ERDC’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL), we’re developing innovative solutions for science and engineering challenges in extreme environments. Learn about what we do and how you can join us.

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See CRREL in action

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Video by Terry Melendy
Fully-loaded C-17 uses compacted deep-snow airfield built by Corps of Engineers R&D
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center
April 28, 2018 | 9:11
PHOENIX AIRFIELD, Antarctica (Nov. 15, 2016) -- A McChord Air Force Base C-17 Globemaster III crew and the Army Corps of Engineers teamed up to make the first landing and takeoff of a wheeled and fully-loaded cargo aircraft on a compacted-snow runway an otherwise routine event.

A collaboration between the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center's Cold Regions Lab and the National Science Foundation's Office of Polar Programs, the surface design required the development of unique certification standards and was engineered to provide a reliable wheeled-runway solution to replace Antarctica's Pegasus Ice runway.

“This novel runway design and construction took more than 16 continuous months to complete,” said Terry Melendy, a CRREL research civil engineer. “The runway was designed using a compaction technique to modify the deep snow using heavy rollers weighing up to 160,000 pounds, to change the snow’s strength properties from its natural state creating a denser, higher strength snow foundation (32 inches deep) that can withstand the impact of a C-17 landing. And, in this particular case, the Phoenix was designed to withstand approximately 60 wheeled flights a year.”

Throughout design and construction, the team maintained close liaison with NSF and Air Mobility Command standards and evaluation personnel and with the Air Force’s Antarctic C-17 flight group.

“The runway was certified in the field for heavy, wheeled aircraft by the Air Mobility Command,” said Melendy. “With the successful completion of the Phoenix runway, we have done something that no one else has done.”

ERDCinfo@usace.army.mil
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C-17GlobemasterAntarcticaAir Mobility CommandMcMurdoNSFNational Science FoundationPhoenix Airfieldcompacted-snow runway
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Fully-loaded C-17 uses compacted deep-snow airfield built by Corps of Engineers R&D
Fully-loaded C-17 uses compacted deep-snow airfield built by Corps of Engineers R&D
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CRREL teams up with special forces to test autonomous technology in Norway
4/28/2025
The U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and Norwegian Special Operations Command hosted a joint Technical Experimentation (TE) this past winter at Camp Rødsmoen in Rena, Norway, giving...
CRREL researchers test equipment at home of “World’s Worst Weather”
3/17/2025
Members of CRREL’s mobility team and executive leadership recently spent the day at the Mount Washington Observatory on the mountain’s summit. While there, they learned about the observatory’s...
ERDC’s Environmental Lab publishes first-of-its-kind National Ordinary High Water Mark manual
3/10/2025
The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) Environmental Laboratory (EL) recently published a groundbreaking technical guide geared toward identifying Ordinary High Water Marks...
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