Transportation in the Arctic.

There is no year-round transportation in the Arctic. Year-round roads and railroads and high-bearing-load air fields to accommodate todays heavy-lift cargo aircraft could be built to the edge of the broad Arctic Ocean, if military necessity or potential resource development warranted it. Shallow-draft barges and boats will continue to be used to transport bulk cargo during the brief season around the perimeter of the Arctic Ocean. Large, very powerful icebreaker cargo ships for transport through the Arctic Ocean ice mantle are feasible and have been demonstrated however, docking, loading, and general operational problems must be solved. Travel across the Arctic Ocean ice mantle with a truly amphibious craft, the Surface Effect Vehicle SEV currently under development will eventually provide long range year-round transportation over the Arctic Oceans permanent ice cover. The SEV with low footprint pressures can travel not only over the pressure ridged rubble fields of the pack ice, but also over the tender summer tundra without subsequent effect. The report discusses all the above points and, in addition, briefly reviews the history of exploration of the Arctic. The extent of Arctic ground and air transportation facilities in the USSR, USA, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, and Scandinavia is shown. The Arctic Ocean icebreaker cargo ship is discussed, as is the search and rescue problem. Arctic air, ground, and marine techniques are summarized, and the Arctic SEV is discussed and the plans for its development outlined. Author