Facilities
| 12 January 2010
Timau Plaza, 7th Floor
Timau Road
Off Argwings Kodhek Road
P.O. Box 24926-00502
Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: +254 2 0 3865120
Fax: +254 2 0 3865121
| 12 January 2010
The Turkana Basin Institute field station at Ileret which began in March 2007 about 5 km from the Ileret Center is now fully functional. Ileret is close to the Kenya Ethiopia border on the east side of Lake Turkana, in the north of Kenya. This remote location makes things quite costly. Trucks carrying construction supplies sometimes can take a full week or more to get there.
Six modified shipping containers were initially trucked up and dropped in pairs about 12 feet apart on the ridge not far from the Ileret airfield. Metal roofs were constructed over the containers and the space between them provides shade and the containers safe storage for food and equipment. These serve as the main entrance office and tent store, temporary fossil laboratory and education center, and the third unit serves as the dining area and study library. All these units are placed on sandstone slabs and over look the lake and the dramatic Lapur mountain range and dinosaur deposits to the west.
The accommodation facilities vary from dormitory units, to tent lines with communal bathroom blocks, and finally four fully equipped spacious tents with ablution blocks to the rear. The camp in full operation can accommodate 60 to 70 people, catering from two kitchens and two mess areas. All of the buildings have been constructed using locally collected sandstone slabs.
The electrical supply is generated by a combination of solar and wind, which charges a bank of batteries that supply inverted 240 volt power to the station. Freezers, fridge and Internet connection are run off this power supply so the facility is virtually carbon neutral. Currently, the water is collected and trucked in from the lake shore, 7 km away and drinking water is processed using a water desalinization plant. Rain water is also collected from the roofs of the buildings which will provide most of the water needed to run the facility. Fuel, food, fresh produce and other supplies must be trucked in by road or flown in from Nairobi.
In April 2008 the construction of a large laboratory for the preparation and analysis of the fossils was completed. This lab will provide facilities for year round preparation of the fossils collected on the east side by local skilled men and women from Ileret. Additional roofing has also been brought in to cover the prefabricated housing units from which rain water is collected and stored in large underground tanks.
| 12 January 2010
The construction of the facility on the west side of Lake Turkana, near Nachechichok on the Turkwel river , started in April 2008. A borehole was sunk and there is ample water which is pumped up to header tanks and gravity fed to the buildings. The power supply and Internet connection is now established. A temporary camp is in place for visitors to the station to be based until the accommodation blocks are completed. Materials such as sand and gravel for making the blocks is sourced locally and using cement mixer and brick maker the blocks are being made for construction.
The mess and accomodations buildings were completed just in time for the conference held at Tuwkel in August 2009.
| 12 January 2010
Turkana Basin Institute
Stony Brook University
N507A Social & Behavioral Sciences
Stony Brook, NY 11794-4364
Phone: 631-632-5800
Fax: 631-632-5810
TBI will run three research centers, east, west and north of Lake Turkana. Currently two of the three, the field stations on the east and west side of the lake, are operational. From these centers scientists can access essential equipment to run their field work and recruit well-trained field workers from local communities. The centers will ease the formidable logistics of operating in a remote area. They will also allow multiple research teams to work in the region, dramatically expanding opportunities to increase the number of important discoveries made each year.
These facilities will provide:
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Laboratories, offices, library & storage
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Research vehicles & fuel
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Workshops for vehicles, carpentry & welding
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Wind & solar energy
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Housing & dining facilities for researchers, field workers, students & guests
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Fresh drinking water
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Satellite telecommunications & Internet
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Local airstrip for ready access
The construction of the facility on the west side of Lake Turkana, near Nachechichok on the Turkwel river , started in April 2008. A borehole was sunk and there is ample water which is pumped up to header tanks and gravity fed to the buildings. The power supply and Internet connection is now established. A temporary camp is in place for visitors to the station to be based until the accommodation blocks are completed. Materials such as sand and gravel for making the blocks is sourced locally and using cement mixer and brick maker the blocks are being made for construction.
It is anticipated that this base camp will be operationa by summer 2009 and completed towards the end of the year.
Follow the progress of construction on the Turkwel facility on our Building TBI Blog.
The Turkana Basin Institute field station at Ileret which began in March 2007 about 5 km from the Ileret Center is now fully functional. Ileret is close to the Kenya Ethiopia border on the east side of Lake Turkana, in the north of Kenya. This remote location makes things quite costly. Trucks carrying construction supplies sometimes can take a full week or more to get there.
Six modified shipping containers were initially trucked up and dropped in pairs about 12 feet apart on the ridge not far from the Ileret airfield. Metal roofs were constructed over the containers and the space between them provides shade and the containers safe storage for food and equipment. These serve as the main entrance office and tent store, temporary fossil laboratory and education center, and the third unit serves as the dining area and study library. All these units are placed on sandstone slabs and over look the lake and the dramatic Lapur mountain range and dinosaur deposits to the west.
The accommodation facilities vary from dormitory units, to tent lines with communal bathroom blocks, and finally four fully equipped spacious tents with ablution blocks to the rear. The camp in full operation can accommodate 60 to 70 people, catering from two kitchens and two mess areas. All of the buildings have been constructed using locally collected sandstone slabs.
The electrical supply is generated by a combination of solar and wind, which charges a bank of batteries that supply inverted 240 volt power to the station. Freezers, fridge and Internet connection are run off this power supply so the facility is virtually carbon neutral. Currently, the water is collected and trucked in from the lake shore, 7 km away and drinking water is processed using a water desalinization plant. Rain water is also collected from the roofs of the buildings which will provide most of the water needed to run the facility. Fuel, food, fresh produce and other supplies must be trucked in by road or flown in from Nairobi.
In April 2008 the construction of a large laboratory for the preparation and analysis of the fossils was completed. This lab will provide facilities for year round preparation of the fossils collected on the east side by local skilled men and women from Ileret. Additional roofing has also been brought in to cover the prefabricated housing units from which rain water is collected and stored in large underground tanks.
