Marking out the LBA

We've said along the way that the limited building time (just a few months over the summer) would limit the amount of work that we could do. Additionally, the fact that the site needs a lot of extra work in terms of ground preparation and framesets and other 'KAIRA-specials', puts even more pressure on what we will do this year.

As a result, the Low-Band Array (LBA) will be built in 2012.

However, even though that is some way off yet, we still need to start doing the preparation work for it now (in the same way that we were planning the HBA around this time last year). Especially as it impacts on some of the work being done as part of the HBA build. Things such as the cable routing, fencing and site access all require a knowledge of the LBA plans.

As a result, we've started marking out the field now.

The LBA field is a swampy, tundra region just to the north west of the HBA array. It is considerably lower and collects a lot of meltwater from the surrounding hills. As a result, the ground is sodden and difficult to negotiate. We will need to carry out drainage works to ensure that the field can be used.

Over the last couple of days, we've marked out the field and done some of the basic planning. Soon, we'll be putting out the reindeer fence, so that will certainly mark the field off.

Markku Postila and Stuart Keenan measure out the LBA field.

Although there are only a few markers in place at the moment, already the scale of it is impressive. We also have the advantage that we can get a good overview of the LBA field from the HBA mound, so we'll be able to take lots of interesting photographs as the work progresses.

More to follow, of course!