iron trails - Testbedstudio

75 Chapter

IRON TRAILS
by TeSTbedSTudIO
The city of Narvik lies in a fjord, along the coastline of Norway. The
inhabitants of the fjords live their lives by the sea, but close bye,
there is a hidden resource in the hinterland. Behind the mountain
range are the vast lands of Sweden, not normally considered
an asset for the Barents region. But at one specific point, this
connection becomes visible and active. This is at Narvik, through
its connection to city of Kiruna via the Malmbanan railroad.
The project concerns the Kiruna Narvik area of the Barents Sea
region, and takes as its departure the Malmbanan railroad. The
track transports purified iron ore pellets from the mine in Kiruna
to the port of Narvik. This trail of transportation ties together the
two cities. It is their base of economy and it permeates everyday
life. Together with the landscape and the resources of nature,
these factors open up the possibilities for the future of the region.
This has given rise to what may be called a testing ground, where
many experimental and new technology ventures has started.
Eventually, these activities may take over and form the new base
of life in the post-industrial society.
The drawing plots the characters and interconnections that
together make up the region. The drawing offers a certain reading
of the area, and enables speculation on how the region holds its
future development in its own hands.

CHARACTERS
MEGA SYSTEM
ESRANGE
REINDEER
SNOW HOTEL
SKID PAN
STORYLINE
POPULATION CURVE
BUSINESS DEAL
RESIDENTIAL BUILDING
THE UNKNOWN
TOURISTS
MINE WORKER
ORE BODY
MINE WORKER
KIRUNA CHURCH
PORJUS POWER STATION
LKAB OFFICE
FORREST
SAMI SHAMAN
BÖRJE SALMING
Chapter 78
79 Chapter
AURORA BOREALIS SKI BUM BIRD’S NEST
KUNGSLEDEN TRAIL MOUN TAIN GRAND RO YAL HOTEL
ARKS TRAIN STATION PELLETS WAGON
BORDER FUTURUM TECHNOLOGY PARK ORE PORT
SVARTA BJØRN FJORD SNOWMOBILE
THE SUN
ORCA
FREIGHT SHIP
WAVE POWER
COD

CRACKS
MINE WORKER
KIRUNA
ORE BODY
KIIRUNAVAARA
BUSINESS DEAL
LKAB OFFICE
PELLETS WORKS
81 Chapter
MINE WORKER
ORE PROCESS
The iron ore is a major feature of the Kiruna Narvik
area, and the one on which its economy is built. 25
million ton of ore is every year mined from the great
ore body in Kiruna. The ore is crushed underground,
and hoisted up to the sinter works, which turns the
ore into transportable small pellets. The pellets are
loaded on 52 wagon long trains, and shipped to the
port of Narvik. There, it is stored and loaded onto
ships that export it to steel mills far away.
BIRD’S NEST
NARVIK HARBOUR
PELLETS WAGON
FREIGHT SHIP
STEEL MILL

TOURISTS
KUNGSLEDEN TRAIL
NATURAL RESOURCES
What is a river in the summer becomes a road in
the winter, and the best time to go skiing is in
early may. In the summertime the sun never sets
and in the winter, ice can become a hotel. The
presence of nature is also conditioned by the fact
that the municipalities of Kiruna and Narvik have
the size of half of Denmark, populated by only 40
000 people. It provides a vast space where many
different elements can coexist independently.
ICE HOTEL
REINDEER
FORREST
SNOWMOBILE
SKI BUM
ARKS
AURORA BOREALIS
HUNTER
BÖRJE SALMING
KIERON
SMALL POWER STATION
DIVER
FISH
KING CRAB
ORCA

LAND
SKID PAN
FUTURUM TECHNOLOGY PARK
ESRANGE
ROCKET LAUNCH
STORYLINE
SKY
SHIITAKE PROSPECTING
THE UNKNOWN
UNDERGROUND
ARCTIC ARENA
SUN CELLS
ARKS
WAVE POWER
TESTING GROUND
Step by step, the economic dominance of the ore
production is taken over by a more general
approach of technology and transportation. Within
this, the region tries to utilize the knowledge from
the mining industry, together with the nature
resources, and has devised the notion of a Testing
Ground. Here, various forms of enterprises arise
that test things, or are experiments in themselves.
The ventures are unique in that they could only
emerge where they are, and they receive a
meaning when connected in a larger context.
TORNETRÄSK
SEA

Alphabet
A
ARCTIC RAIL eXPReSS
The ARE-corridor is a direct rail connection between Narvik
and Oslo. Every day it transports fish and crabs south to Oslo,
and every day it returns north with a wide range of consumer
goods. Although the logistics are national Norwegian, the
transport goes through Sweden. Due to the nature of fresh
fish, the train is very fast.
ARK HOTeL
“This area is an untapped secret known only to Swedes,” said
Putte Eby, the brains behind the hotel. “But with enlightened
management that will change. We want to open the area up.
My guess is, in about five years we won’t have many Swedish
guests: they will be mostly foreign.”
ARKS
One of the main leisure interests of the Kiruna residents is
fishing. The fishers have developed an ark, a small cabin with
runners, that may easily be transported out onto the ice of
the Torneträsk lake. There are more than 1 200 arks during
the winter season. They have different interiors, but all have
a source of heating that keep the temperature at 20˚ C. Some
have TV and a few have saunas. The common denominator
is at least one hole for fishing, although most have two. The
catch consists of grayling, char and salmon.
ARMY bASe
The town of Bjerkvik, in the municipality of Narvik, hosts the
army base HV-16. Here is also Bjerkvik Technical Workshop,
BTW, that consists of a 16 600 square metre building area
divided between the main branch in Bjerkvik and the branch
Osmarka near Evenes close to the airport. These are modern
facilities built in 1986 and 1991. There are currently 120
employees.
AuRORA bOReALIS
Aurora Borealis, or Northern lights, glows in yellow, green and
red. It has always been considered magical. In Scandinavia it
was called “the herring flash” referring to a heavenly shoal
of fish. The scientific explanation is that electrons from
space collide with particles in the outer atmosphere. The
Earth’s magnetism concentrates the phenomena to the Polar
Regions.
B
bdX
BDX is a machine and transport company. The company is
owned by 400 independent entrepreneurs with about 1 900
employees and 1 600 machines and vehicles. The number of
employees in the parent company is 150. For 2007, the BDX
Group had sales amounting to SEK 1,6 billion, estimated to
rise to 2 billion in 2008.
beXuS
Balloon-borne EXperiments for University Students is a
student competition where winning experiments are executed
in space. BEXUS experiments are lifted by a balloon with
a volume of 12 000 m³ to a maximum altitude of 35 km,
depending on total experiment mass (40-100 kg). The flight
duration is 2-5 hours.
bORdeR SHOPPING
One passenger train between Kiruna and Narvik is called
Karven, which means ”The Caraway”. Caraway is the dominant
spice in a popular type of Norwegian hard liquor, often
consumed during the trip. Prices differ considerably between
Norway and Sweden. It is economical to travel from Narvik to
Kiruna just to eat a pizza, which cost about 8 euro instead of
the Narvik price of an astonishing 30 euro. Border-crossing
delivery is not yet available.
bÖRJe SALMING
The ice hockey player Börje Salming and his brother Stig were
born in the Sami village of Salmi. The family name was taken
by his grandfather. Salming was elected into the International
Ice Hockey Federation’s centennial All Stars team in 2008
along with Vladislav Tretiak, Viacheslav Fetisov, Sergei
Makarov, Valeri Kharlamov and Wayne Gretzky.
bROAdbANd
The County Administrative Board of Norrbotten has decided
to invest SEK 8,5 million in a broadband network that ties
together all the main municipal locations in the county. One
problem will be to deliver broadband internet connection to
the arks, so that one may surf on the ice.
C
CAR POOL
The Ford Corporation enjoys Kiruna, having recently moved
their winter testing of Jaguar, Aston Martin and Land Rover
from Canada. They doubled their operations when the Arena
Arctica hangar facilities were inaugurated in 2004. They
join Volkswagen, Renault and Mercedes in recognizing the
advantages of having Kiruna as their winter testing ground.
COLd CLIMATe
Cold Climate Technology Research is one of the priority
research areas at the Narvik University College. The cold
climate phenomena can be defined as the mutual effects
of low temperatures, snow, ice and wind. Cold Climate
technology is developed particularly to reduce disadvantages,
or to utilize advantages, with cold climate. The knowledge and
results from the wind and snowdrift activity is being utilised
as a basis for modelling and simulation of snow avalanches
and icing on structures.
CRACK FORMATION
The Kiirunavaara ore body has an almost vertical direction, but
tilts so that its deeper end slants in under the city. When the
ore is mined, the void that emerges is filled continuously with
waste rock from above. This undermines the hanging wall, the
side towards the city. Deformations form and a cavity slowly
grows larger and larger. As a result, the affected city, which
is dependent on the mining industry, has to move in order to
survive.
D
deAL
In a Swedish Chinese business deal, contract signing takes
place at LKAB headquarters in Luleå, Sweden. In 2002,
Chinese contractors buy 500 000 tons of high quality steel
products for the Olympic games in Beijing. The Bird’s Nest
Olympic stadium, the world’s largest enclosed space, is made
out of 110 000 tons of steel.
deSOLATe ROAd
Sweden’s most desolate road is a 20 km long dirt road,
isolated between the abandoned villages of Laimoluokta
and Salmi, without contact with the rest of Sweden’s road
network. There are 30 something cars isolated on the road.
The cars are untaxed, uninsured and uninspected, since it
is impossible to drive to the inspection. Cars broken are left
where they stand. They are used by the grandchildren of those
who left the villages, which now provide summerhouses. The
cars are generally European from the 1970s.
dRAINAGe bASIN
The drainage basin of the Torne Älv river is 40 157 km², of
which about 60 % is in Sweden and the rest in Finland. The
drainage basin stretches from the Norwegian fell area through
the north of Sweden and Finnish Lapland’s north-western part
to the lowland coast of the Gulf of Bothnia. The water system
consists of two large rivers, Torne Älv from the Swedish side
and Muonio Älv that constitutes the border between Finland
and Sweden. The rivers join south of Pajala.
E
eARLY TOuRISM
Abisko is the first tourist station in the area, and originates
with the Swedish Tourist Association acquiring some army
barracks in Abiskojåkk in 1902. In 1906, the tourist station
was inaugurated. Abisko National Park was formed in 1909,
and in 1912 the research station for the natural sciences was
relocated to Abisko Östra. Abisko tourist station was opened
during the winter season from 1925 onwards. It remains one
of the main centres for nature and wildlife activity in the
country.
eCONOMY OF THe uNKNOWN
The term ore is defined purely economically and means
“mineral worth mining”. The state of the region’s existence
is relative.
eNTeRPRISeS IN KIRuNA
Pizzeria Arctica, Arctic CAD & Technology, Arctic Embroidery,
Arctic Wind Power, Arctic Health, Nursery School the
Mineworker, Children’s Mine, Candy Mine, Dog Mine, Fell
Products, Group Home Fell Slope, Rapid & Fell, Parlour Fell
Wind, Fell Real Estate, Nursery School Northern Lights and
Squirrel, Open Air School the Wolf, Nursery School the Grouse,
Hunter’s Kitchen, Film and Cultural Association Northern
Lights, Northern Light Drivers, Northern Lights Real Estate,
Northern Light Taxi, Northern Light Rentals and Solarium
Tropical.
eSRANGe
The Esrange Space Center premises are located in an area of
20 km² about 40 km east of Kiruna. Close to the main building
area is the area for balloon launchings including two buildings
for operations control and payload preparation. Further east
is the launching area for rockets, which includes rocket and
payload preparation halls, chemical laboratories and launch
pads. The radar station, the satellite receiving station, and a
GPS reference station are situated on top of a hill. A ground
observation station, KEOPS, is located on another hilltop.
F
FAb
The property company Fastighets AB Malmfälten, FAB, is a
subsidiary fully owned by the LKAB mining company. ”FAB is
a property company for all. We can offer row houses, villas,
tenement houses and commercial spaces. Since we do not
have new production within our company, we have many
older buildings and flats with a unique charm. We have 2
200 residential units in 400 buildings, mainly in Kiruna and
Malmberget. Presently we have no vacant flats for letting.”
FeLL TOuRISM
In 1926, the Swedish Railway Workers’ Holiday Home
Chapter 86
87 Chapter
Association opens its facility in Björkliden, later supplemented
with hotel Fjället. 1929 sees the dawn of the world’s
northernmost golf course on the premises, complete with
Sami caddies. In 2005 the facilities become privately owned.
The winter seasons are popular but the number of summer
visitors have halved since the top years of the 1970s.
FeRRuM buSINeSS
During weekdays, all the 171 rooms of the Scandic Ferrum
Hotel may be fully booked, perhaps with the exception of the
two heavy smoker’s rooms. Most of the guests are working
with the LKAB mining company or some of its subcontractors.
There are usually vacancies during the weekends.
FISH eXPORT
Dried cod have been exported to south-western Europe for
many centuries, probably even for a whole millennium. The
fish is closely connected to the catholic Friday fast. Dried
and salted cod is called “bacalau” in Portuguese and derives
from the old Norwegian word for crate fish, “backefisk”.
Today, bacalau is a Norwegian word for a chilli seasoned cod
casserole dish. The Norwegian word for cod, “torsk”, is simply
a combination of the words dried, “tørr”, and fish, “fisk”.
FISHING INduSTRY
From January to April, the waters around Narvik are full of
spawning cod. Industrial fishing is a main business activity in
the region. In the past, there were large quantities of herring
in the Ofotenfjord, but unfortunately they have disappeared.
Instead, there are salmon farms producing large broiler
salmons. These are exported around the world, with Narvik as
a main transportation hub.
FRAGILe NATuRe
There is a saying that if you step three times on the same
place when walking in the fell nature, the vegetation under
your foot will die. Here, old trails may be visible for hundreds
of years after being used. The Nordic mountain flora is very
fragile and slow growing. At the same time, most of the
region’s businesses are based on using nature’s resources.
FuTuRuM
The company Futurum AS is a business development
organization owned by the municipality of Narvik together with
many local companies. Futurum assists in establishing and
developing innovative projects. It is also profiling Narvik as a
business region, highlighting its many advantages.
G
GOLF CLub
The golf course is a cross-section of Narvik business life.
The sponsors are: Hole 1 Quality Hotel Grand Royal, hole
2 Narvikgården, hole 3 vacant, hole 4 Narvikguten PUB,
hole 5 Nordlandsbanken, hole 6 LKAB, hole 7 vacant, hole 8
Sparebanken Narvik, hole 9 Nordasfalt, hole 10 Byggmakker,
hole 11 Byggtorget, hole 12 A Markussen, hole 13 MultiConsult,
hole 14 vacant, hole 15 vacant, hole 16 Narvik Energi, hole
17 MeglerForum, hole 18 Rørlegger’n. The main sponsor is
Statkraft.
GROuSe HuNTING
Many animals are being hunted in the region, such as
Ptarmigan, Willow Grouse, Capercaillie, Elk, Mountain Hare,
Black Grouse and Brown Bear. The grouse hunting season
is open for everyone. Both Norway and Sweden have similar
rules. You have to buy a licence, but you do not need to own
land to hunt. This has made grouse hunting very popular,
especially the Ptarmigan hunt.
GuLF STReAM
The North Atlantic Current, which is an extension of the Gulf
Stream, gives Narvik a much milder climate than a town would
otherwise have at this latitude. In addition, the mountains
surrounding the town give shelter from the strong winds
typical of coastal areas. The mean annual temperature is
3.8° C, the January average is −4.1° C, and the July average
is 13.4° C.
H
HANGAR
Welcome to 6 500 m² of hangar space above the Arctic Circle.
Do you need a large hangar building at an airport with a high
level of service close to a modern city, surrounded by wild
countryside with a winter climate most of the year? Arena
Arctica, situated nine kilometres from Kiruna, meets most of
the expectations one can demand of a hangar building. The
space can accommodate an aircraft up to the size of a Boeing
747.
HOTeL AuRORA
Hotel Aurora is used primarily for researchers and partners
to the space centre. New hotel rooms, mostly double rooms,
are now being prepared to meet the great demand for space
tourism. First are some 100 English tourists, booked through
”Discover the World”. These trips, arranged together with the
Ice Hotel, offer a unique experience with elements of space,
nature, ice and Nordic light. ”Many people want to stay at a
rocket base”, says Olle Norberg, head of Esrange.
HOuSING bubbLe
In the middle of 2006, housing prices in the USA began to drop.
This led to the subprime mortgage crash. The German bank
Depfa got into big trouble, which eventually led to the fall of
the Oslo-based Terra Securities. In November 2007 Judge Lars
Borge-Andersen announced its bankruptcy. The municipality
of Narvik had investments in Terra Securities, and lost more
than NOK 140 million, eventually having to take up loans to
pay the city’s employees.
HYTTeSPRAWL
Just north of the Malmbanan railroad on the Bjørnfjell hill is
a conglomeration of small cabins, the Norwegian ”hytter”.
Mostly from the 1960s, they constitute a kind of suburban
sprawl as the farthest outpost of civilization in the eastern
stretch of the Ofoten area.
I
ICe HOTeL
During a trip to Japan, the entrepreneur Yngve Bergqvist was
shown a copy in ice of the old wooden church in Jukkasjärvi. At
that moment he got the idea of building a hotel made of snow
and ice. Every winter a new hotel is erected and the building
process continues until the warmth of the spring melts the
construction. A couple of years ago, Bergqvist created a copy
of the Jukkasjärvi Ice Hotel in Quebec, Canada.
IMPACT AReA
The rocket impact area is located north of Esrange in the
Swedish tundra region. This area is divided into three zones,
A, B, and C, with a total area of 5 600 km². Zone A, the impact
area for boosters, can be extended when rockets with longrange
boosters are launched. Zones B and C are impact areas
for second and third stages as well as payloads. Zone C is not
allowed for use during the period May 1 - September 15. The
impact area for balloons covers the northern parts of Sweden,
Norway, Finland, Russia, Canada and Alaska.
INduSTRIAL NATuRe
At 500 meter’s depth in the mine of LKAB, the tasty
Shiitake mushrooms are grown. And at the homepage of the
municipality the point is made that the name Kiruna originates
with a translation of the Sami expression Kieron, which means
the bird “Riekko”, the white fell grouse. In Kiruna it is close
from industry to nature. Industrial nature.
INLANd RAILWAY
The Malmbanan Railroad connects to the Inland Railway,
running through the central parts of northern Sweden from
Gällivare down to Kristinehamn in a stretch of about 1300 km.
It was built between 1908 and 1937.
J
K
KING CRAb
Around 1960, Russian scientists succeeded in introducing the
red King Crab into the Barents Sea. During the 1990s the stock
increased enormously. Today it has reached the Ofotfjord
and commercial fishing is starting. Even though it poses a
big threat to other species, the Norwegian government has
decided on fishing quotas and catch regulations. The King Crab
can weigh 10 kg and have a leg span of almost two metres.
It tastes very good.
KK4
The pelletizing plant KK4 is the world’s largest gratekiln-cooler
type sintering machine and a 700 million euro
investment. The plant has a 70 metre long grate to dry and
pre-heat the ore gravel. The gravel is then sintered to pellets
in a 40 metre long rotary kiln at 1 250° C. KK4 will be able to
produce 5 million tons of pellets per year. Along with other
investments this means a raise of LKAB’s total yearly pellet
production from 24 to 28 million tons.
KuNGSLedeN
Abisko is the starting point for the backpacker trail Kungsleden
that runs for 450 km to Hemavan in the south. Kungsleden is
one of the most famous trails in the world. It was laid out in
1920, tying together disparate smaller trails and paths. The
ambition was to make the best and the most beautiful trails,
and it was therefore given its name Kungsleden, the King’s
path.
L
LAKe OF STeeL
The volume of Torneträsk, Sweden’s seventh largest lake, is
17,1 km³. The water weighs 17,1 billion tons. LKAB in Kiruna
produces 20 000 000 tons of steel every year, 2% of the world
production. Thus every year 1 billion tons of steel is produced.
This means it would take 17 years of global steel production
to fill Torneträsk. With an anticipated cost of 800 dollars per
ton, the operation would cost 13 000 billion dollars or 16 000
billion euro. Currently, the Iraq war has cost USA 600 billion
dollars. Instead of 22 Iraq wars, we could have a lake of steel.
LAPLANd
Lapland is the northernmost province of Sweden and
constitutes about a quarter of its surface area. Lapland
is also a large part of the Sami nation, Sápmi. The coat-ofarms
portrays the Wildman, representing the unexplored
nature of the province. The club he is bearing is made of gold,
symbolizing the nature reserves.

M
MALMbANAN
On the Malmbanan railway, 13 trains per day transport ore
from the mine in Kiruna to the Port in Narvik. Each train
consists of 52 wagons that each loads 80 tons of sintered ore
pellets, and the train carries 4 160 tons in total. New trains
that are being developed increase the number of wagons to 68
and the load to 100 tons per wagon, with a total of 6 800 tons
per train. There are also trains for transportation of persons
and other goods running on the railway line.
MeGA SYSTeM
The Mega System is a gigantic, still living cultural environment.
It consists of the Malmfälten mines, the ore harbour in Narvik,
the Malmbanan railroad, Porjus power station and the Boden
fortress. Naturally, their existence is known by the locals,
but that they together make up one single technological
system is new to many people. Staffan Hansson, professor
in the history of technology, has shown that these systems
are interconnected and so strongly interdependent that they
constitute a mega system.
MINe TRANSPORTATION
LKAB is the biggest business partner of machine and transport
company BDX. The mine in Kiirunavaara occupies a large
number of BDX’s machines and vehicles.
MOVING CITY
By changing the infrastructural networks, re-routing the
railway and the E10 motorway, the parts of the city of Kiruna
that are affected by unstable ground will be rebuilt northwest
of the existing city. Many of the key functions of the city,
among them the reconstructed church, are to be placed here.
The residential periphery is suddenly closely connected to the
centre. The new city is sited in between the lake Luossajärvi
and the old ore mines of Luossavaara.
MYTH OF THe MeGA SYSTeM
From the autumn of 2006, the Norrbotten County Museum
has been running the pedagogical project ”Meet the Mega
System”. The aim of the project is for teachers in the county
to start to use the mega system as a focus in education,
so that students become aware, curious and proud of the
county’s industrial and cultural heritage, both historically and
in present time. The tool used for this venture is Storyline.
N
NARVIK uNIVeRSITY COLLeGe
The University College has 1 300 students and 170 employees.
It has departments for building, engineering design, scientific
computing, electrical engineering and space technology. Most
students do not come from Narvik, and the body of students
actively contribute to changing the city’s demography
and urban life. The impact of the college’s work on the
entrepreneurial structure of Narvik is something the city sees
as an asset, and is trying to accommodate for.
NATIONAL bORdeR
The resort Riksgränsen, meaning”National Border”, is the
centre of advanced and ‘off –piste’ downhill skiing in Sweden.
The weather conditions make it possible to ski in the bright
sun of May. The operation started in 1928 with 18 beds and
self-catering. The first international slalom competition on
Swedish grounds was held in Riksgränsen in 1934, and 1938
was the start of the Swedish championships.
NATuRAL bORdeR
The border between the drainage basin of the Baltic Sea and
the rivers flowing out into the Barents sea are almost entirely
consistent with the national Norwegian border to Sweden
and Finland. These borders are geopolitically and historically
defined.
NeW
The North East West freight corridor, NEW, is an intermodal
transport corridor, which links the North American East
Coast to Russia and Central Asia, via the port of Narvik and
the railway system in the Nordic Countries. NEW represents
shorter distance, has less complicated border crossings and
utilizes less congested areas than existing alternatives. NEW
is an alternative or a supplement to some of the existing
routes.
NeW CAPACITY
Chinese ports handled 48 million shipping containers, in
the form of ”twenty-foot equivalent units” (TEU) in 2003.
In 2002, the Midwest of China exported more than 130 000
TEU to Europe and close to 200 000 TEU to the USA. If only
50% of this volume could be carried by train, it represents
approximately 4 daily trains along the NEW Corridor. There
have to be ships leaving Narvik every day for an acceptable
frequency. If the ship is 5 000 TEU, a mid size transport ship,
there has to be a yearly transport of 1.8 million TEU, or about
45 trains a day.
NeW WAGONS
Kiruna Wagon manufactures the new generation of ore railway
wagons F 050. The new wagon carries 100 tons. Together
with the upgrade of Malmbanan to withstand 30 tons of axle
pressure and the use of more powerful engines being able
to pull 750 metre long trains with 68 wagons, the transport
capacity will increase by 60 %.
NORdLANd
Nordland is the narrowest county in Norway. Despite its
name, Nordland is not the northernmost county, which is
Finnmark. The region has always been home to a large Sea
Sami population, now assimilated in the Norwegian culture.
The coat-of-arms portrays a Nordland boat, as traditionally
built by the Sami people. Its construction resembles the old
Viking longship.
O
ORe bOdY
The Kiirunavaara ore body is the largest magnetite resource
known today. The magnetite has a high concentration of iron,
leaving little waste material. The ore body is one hundred
meters wide and believed to be 4 km deep. But no one knows
for sure.
ORe LOAdING
Every day, 11 to 13 ore trains arrive in Narvik. The ore wagons
are washed and unloaded while in motion. A whole train set is
unloaded in 30 minutes. The ore pellets are then transported
on conveyor belts to the ship. In less than two days, Narvik
ships enough iron to build the Beijing Olympic arena Bird’s
Nest.
ORe SHIPS
A transport ship loads on average 105 000 tons of ore, but
the port has a capacity for vessels carrying 350 000 tons.
Destinations may be around the world. As an example, during
five days ships will travel to Misurata in Libya, Bakar in
Croatia, Hamburg in Germany, Kotka in Finland, Moerdijk in the
Netherlands and El Dekheila in Egypt.
P
PAYbACK
Many ships of the German Kriegsmarine still lie on the bottom
of the Ofotfjord, so about 0.2% of the exported steel was
returned to the region.
POWeR STATION
The first power stations in Sweden were built by private
investors. In 1906 the Swedish government felt the need
to produce power and a couple of very large stations were
planned. The Porjus power station was built between 1910 and
1915. No roads led to the site so all the construction material
had to be carried by foot. After the station was completed
many of the workers stayed and formed the town of Porjus.
PROSPeCTING
There is a large interest from international companies to
prospect in Sweden. Northland Resources, a Canadian mining
company, have recently received a licence to mine iron ore
in Pajala, and the Swedish mining authority Bergsstaten
has issued an exploitation concession for 100 million tons.
Prospecting in new locations occurs continuously.
Q
QuALITY COOKING
There are many regional culinary specialities that tie the area
together as a source of a full menu: Swedish caviar from
Kalix, fresh shrimps from Narvik, shiitake mushrooms from
the Kiirunavaara mine, smoked reindeer heart from Gabna
Sami village, king crabs from the Ofotfjord, fresh grayling from
Torneträsk, cured salmon from Lakselv, grouse casserole
from Njuorajaure, Bacalau from Lofoten and cloudberries from
Abisko National Park.
R
ReC GROuP
Renewable Energy Corporation Group manufactures solar
cells in Narvik. Narvik is a peculiar location for sun power.
During the winter it is dark for 25 days but during the summer
it is daylight during 47 nights. The entire REC Group is about
half the size of the LKAB mining company, and employs around
the same amount of Narvik citizens.
ReMOTe CONTROL
Mining trains at the 1045m level are run by the control centre
at the 775m level. There are also electric loaders, which are
remotely controlled. The operator sits in front of monitors in
a control room, and steers the machines in the production
area. The machines navigate with the help of rotating lasers
and reflectors on the walls. Information about the position of
the machine is sent via wireless base stations to the control
room computer.
ReXuS
Rocket-borne EXperiments for University Students is a
student competition where winning experiments are executed
in space. The experiments are launched on an unguided, spinstabilised
rocket powered by an Improved Orion Motor with 290
kg of solid propellant. It is capable of taking 40 kg of student
experiment modules to an altitude of approximately 100 km.
ROCK STATe
Bergsstaten, “The Rock State”, is the official mining
inspectorate of Sweden. It was founded in 1637 and is one of
the oldest authorities in Sweden. Bergsstaten is responsible
for issuing permits for prospecting and mining. The Swedish
law states that anyone can acquire permits for investigations
regardless of ownership of the land, something that is
considered liberal compared to other countries.
Chapter 88
89 Chapter
S
SALT POWeR
When freshwater meets saltwater, for example where a
river flows into the sea, enormous quantities of energy are
released through osmosis. In an osmotic power plant, fresh-
and seawater is fed into underground chambers, separated
by a membrane. The salt molecules in the seawater draw the
freshwater through the membrane, causing a pressure on the
seawater side. This pressure corresponds to a water column
of 120 metres, or a large waterfall, and can be utilised in a
turbine, which generates electricity.
SAMI PeOPLe
The Sami people, formerly known as the Lapps, are the
indigenous people of the region. Recent genetic studies
have indicated that the Sami are descendants of common
ancestors of the Catalonians and the Basques, probably the
first inhabitants of Europe. While the reindeer herding Fell
Sami have the archetypal Sami lifestyle, the coastal Sea Sami
are in majority. The Sami discovered what proved to be the
Kiirunavaara iron ore body.
SAMI VILLAGe
Gabna is a Fell Sami village in the Kiruna region. Because of
the nature of reindeer herding, Gabna occupies a long and
narrow area from the mountains to the forest, typical for a
Sami village. The Sami people used to migrate to Norway too,
but border administration made that impossible. Gabna is
affected by the relocation of Kiruna due to the mining industry,
thus demonstrating a conflict between two societies.
SCAR
The traces from ore mining in the Luossavaara mountain of
Kiruna have created a large rift. When the city is moved, this
geographical scar may however be utilized as a contribution to
the city’s regeneration. A recent study commissioned by the
LKAB mining company developed a programme in which the
cavity of the mountain may be transformed into a travel centre
with indoor skiing slopes, a tropical garden, a shopping area, a
spa and swimming facilities.
SHAMAN’S dRuM
The Sami shamans, called Noaidi, use a large drum. On the skin
of the drum a map of the world is drawn. The map represents
a mythology of the Sami people. By placing a piece of reindeer
antlers as a marker on the skin while drumming, divination
could be made through the path of the marker along the
figures on the drum. Different overlapping zones of figures can
be noticed: the forest, the mountains, the Christian village, the
gods and the Sami community.
SKIdPAN
Kiruna has a 50-year history of hosting international
automobile winter testing operations. Kiruna is surrounded
by hundreds of lakes, offering secluded private skidpans
and backdrops for breathtaking public displays. On the lake
Saustusjärvi alone, BDX expertly prepares several kilometres
of skidpans. Our latest addition is a skidpan in the form of a
shallow artificial lake, 800 x 800 meters, which is open for
business already by the middle of November.
SMALL POWeR
Småkraft, or Small Power, is a small-scale hydroelectric power
plant with long traditions in Norway. With new technology,
relatively small falls of water may be used effectively. A part
of a stream is led into pipes through the power plant, and the
facility occupies little physical space. Hydroelectrical power
is today the most important source of energy production in
Norway. Small Norwegian waters have an unutilized potential
of 25 TWh. Power plants under 100 kW are called Micro Power
Plants.
SNOWMObILe
Snowmobiles are very popular in northern Sweden. Aside
from their common recreational use, snowmobiles are
essential for the reindeer herding industry. There are 1 500
km of snowmobile paths in the region. In Norway, the general
recreational use is banned, creating a kind of micro tourism to
the Swedish side of the border.
SPACe TOuRISM
Located 200 km north of the Arctic Circle and surrounded by
a vast wilderness, its geographic location is ideal. Richard
Branson of Virgin Galactic has looked into the option of using
this site for space tourism in 2012, where space trips with
paying passengers will launch from Esrange.
SPORT FISHING
In the nineteenth century, English aristocrats came to
northern Norway to fly fish for salmon. They were called the
Salmon Lords. Today, many people come to Narvik to fish. It is
common to rent a “hytte”, a small cabin with an accompanying
boat for deep-sea fishing.
STATKRAFT
Statkraft is a state-owned enterprise with an aim to be a
European leader within environmentally-friendly energy.
Statkraft produces water, wind and gas power. Statkraft is
now developing the areas of wind power, tidal power and salt
power.
STORAGe SILOS
Ore storage silos are being built underground, and the entire
harbour structure will be adapted to handle larger ore trains
and greater volumes of iron ore products. 11 large storage
silos in the form of rock caverns will be blasted. Above the
storage area, the ore trains will enter a tunnel and bottomdischarge
their loads into the silos. Each silo holds about
110 000 tonnes of pellets, the full load of about 16 of the
new train sets. The total storage capacity is approximately
1,5 million tons.
STORYLINe
Storyline is an educational method in which learning occurs
within the plot of a story. The story becomes a fictive reality
that the students assemble together. Just like in all stories,
a storyline is set in a specific time, in a place where the
action unfolds and with a number of characters. The narrative
frame is adjusted to the situation: discussion, reflection,
documentation, construction or experimentation.
SVARTA bJØRN
Since 1959, the annual Winter Party Week dubs a girl Svarta
Bjørn, in the found memory of a Norwegian navvy cook who
died in 1901 during the construction of the Malmbanan
railroad. The candidate should be dark haired, tall and have a
proud posture. The title has more and more begun to promote
a feminist aspect in the male dominated north, and there are
now a Svarta Bjørn conference and scholarship.
T
TAILORed eNVIRONMeNT
What are your environmental needs? In the vast, underground
mine you will find everything from high-tech systems to
precisely controlled propagation environments. When it comes
to environmental variables such as dust, humidity, water and
air pressure and an array of other stress factors, the selection
of possible tailored environments is practically endless.
TeSTING GROuNd
Welcome to Kiruna Test Area. Kiruna’s geographical location
and wide range of modern industries offer unique possibilities
for testing operations in a sub-arctic environment. Here you
will find an established infrastructure and a city that offers
a complete range of services and a wide variety of exciting
activities, year round, for testing in space and flight, on
land and underground. Our high-tech business atmosphere
is fuelled by the expansion of the research facilities and
industries thriving in Kiruna.
TRAINING ANd TRIAL GROuNdS
Sautusjärvi and the water: Continue straight ahead on the
Paksuniemivägen road. After a sharp right turn is a small
bridge over a brook. Turn left at the first dirt road after the
brook (there are red traffic mirrors at the crossing). From
a road description to Malmfältens German Pointer Club’s
training and trial grounds for track and water.
U
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WAR MACHINe
Narvik has its outstanding place in the history of the Second
World War. Being free of ice all year round had made Narvik
the second biggest city in northern Norway. Trade agreements
provided for substantial iron exports from neutral Sweden to
the Third Reich: 10 million tons in 1940 alone, out of which 3
million tons had to be transported via Narvik. That constituted
Narvik’s strategic importance.
WeLd RObOT
Kiruna Wagon’s new weld robot is one of the largest in Europe.
Its size is necessary for the demanding welds of wagon F 050.
The trains weigh about 8 500 tons, and are subject to extreme
pull tensions affecting material and joints. The superior use
of material saves 30 kg of welding wire per wagon, and gives
room for an additional 9 000 tons of ore per year to the port
of Narvik.
WORLd’S LARGeST CITY
The 1st of January 1948 Kiruna received its city rights, and
became in its surface area the largest city in the world. All
of the surrounding land with the parishes of Jukkasjärvi
and Vittangi were incorporated. This became a role model
for the large municipalities that later would be instituted in
Sweden. The world record was held until 1968, when Mount
Isa in Queensland, Australia, double the size, received its city
rights.
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