This tender concerns 3 Snow
Blowers and 3 options for 1 additional Snow Blower. The Snow Blowers are to be used on bases located on
the northern part of Greenland. The north most base, "Station Nord",
is placed at 81°36N - 16°40W, and has a 1.800 m long and 60 m wide runway. Since the runway is
the only way to have freight and personnel transported to Station Nord, the
runway is open 365 days a year. Due to the location, and the logistic
challenges this entail, it must be possible to store a spare parts kit locally
to keep the Snow Blower in operation. Therefore it is desirable to keep the
complexibility of the machinery at a minimum. During the winter, the station
can be isolated, without the possibility of any supply of materials and
spareparts, for several months, but it does not change the fact, that the
station needs the capacity to clear the runway in case of emergencies 365 days
a year.
Forsvarets
Vagt Mestersvig is located 1000 kilometers south of Station Nord, but similar
arctic weather conditions exist at this location. Therefore the same
requirements apply to the Snow Blower at Forsvarets Vagt Mestersvig as for the
Snow Blowers at Station Nord.
The Snow
Blowers will work in areas, where no light poles are present. The only light
source when clearing snow, will be the working lamps mounted on the Snow
Blowers. The number and placement of working lamps, as well as possibility of
dimming during snowstorms (to avoid "blinding") is important.
Internet
connection is not present at Station Nord, but for support of the Snow Blower,
communication through SATCOM is a possibility (phone calls and small data
packages with sizes below 500 kB). A very limited bandwidth is present at
Forsvarets Vagt Mestersvig, however, only small data packages can be sent.
The climate
is extreme, where temperature in the winter drops to -50°C with winds up to 30 m/s. Due to this, the
ejection chute must be placed behind the operators cabin. Even though the
windscreen and windows are heated, experience show, that the windscreen and
windows will be covered with ice if the ejection chute is placed in front of
the cabin.
Due to the
strong winds, the snow is very dense, hard and heavy. The measured snow
densities at Station Nord and Forsvarets Vagt Mestersvig, lies in the range
from 150 kg/m3 to 600 kg/m3. As the density increases,
the snow gradually becomes harder, with properties close to solid ice.
Because of
the location of the bases, only military aviation jet-fuel (JP-8) is available
on the airbases, and the engine in the Snow Blower must be able to run on both
jet-fuel (JP-8) as well as diesel fuel, arctic grade.