FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 18, 2000

Fairbanks, Alaska – Armed with chainsaws and 350 cubic feet of ice, civil engineering students at the University of Alaska Fairbanks are busy constructing the annual UAF Ice Arch this week, continuing a campus tradition that spans half a century. Designed by student members of the American Society of Civil Engineers and erected by engineering students from all disciplines, the arch should be completed Saturday, Feb. 26 to coincide with UAF's Engineering Open House.

This year's ice arch includes a four-sided tower with 12-foot archways on each face. The tower walls will be made of compacted snow, with archways and corner supports made from blocks of ice donated by Ice Alaska, sponsors of the World Ice Art Championship carving competition.

For UAF students working on the construction, the ice arch represents much more than just a school project.

"We're dedicating the structure in memory of students who died at the bonfire disaster at Texas A & M University last fall," said ice arch project coordinator Ben Angel. "The final project will look unfinished, as if to suggest that the deceased students' absence can be felt even up here."

The ice arch will sit near UAF's Fountain of Flags, which lies in the campus plaza between the Duckering building and Signers' Hall. While constructing the arch, students will practice industry safety precautions such as wearing hard hats and other personal protective gear. The arch will be shored with plywood chutes and cordoned off at a safe distance from nearby walkways.

The ice arch is just one of many engineering projects on display at UAF during the "E-Week Open House" Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Student exhibits from petroleum, geological, civil, electrical, mechanical and mineral engineering will be open to the public throughout the day.

Highlighting the open house are two tours of the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers' Permafrost Tunnel, located eight miles north of Fairbanks off the Steese Expressway.

The tunnel tours begin with a safety briefing and video at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Tour participants will be escorted to the site to view ice wedges and organic materials dating back more than 30,000 years. Space on the tour is limited and given to participants on a first-come, first-served basis.

Exhibits at the Duckering building will include payloads designed by the Alaska Student Rocket Project and a sled designed by UAF's Concrete Toboggan Team. The student rocket scientists recently launched a payload that traveled faster than the speed of sound and seven times higher than the cruising altitude of most commercial airliners. The concrete tobogganers placed 10th overall during this year's Great Northern Concrete Toboggan Race in Canada.

Exhibits will show visitors where soil might fail during an earthquake, why air flows around airplane wings and cars in a wind tunnel, and how scientists use radiation in an infrared sensor to track motion in a room. Petroleum engineering students will describe fluids and their properties used to extract oil from the ground during the "Mud 101" lecture, while electrical engineering students will show how to use closed circuitry as an unusual way to cook a hot dog.

Visitors also will be able to pan for gold, create infinity, check out the supercomputing visualization lab and participate in imaginative construction techniques. Maps of the exhibits and schedules of presentations will be available.

Last year more than 800 people attended the annual open house, which coincides with National Engineering Week. In the four years since its inception, UAF's E-Week Open House has been sponsored by several professional engineering and design firms from around the state who draw much of their future workforce from current UAF students and graduates.

-30-

NOTE TO EDITORS: FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE ICE ARCH CONSTRUCTION, CONTACT PROJECT COORDINATOR BEN ANGEL VIA EMAIL: FSBMA@UAF.EDU.

JCS/2-18-00/00-050