January 28, 2010
New Ice-Cutting Equipment, Advanced Technologies In Ice Measurement Combined To Tackle Conditions On Red River North Of Winnipeg
Manitoba’s ice-jam prevention efforts will be improved this year with the addition of two ice-cutting machines, more powerful ice cutters and the use of new technology for measuring ice thickness, Water Stewardship Minister Christine Melnick announced today.
Ice cutting on the Red River will start in the second week of February. The budget this year for the ice-cutting and icebreaking program is $1 million, up by over $230,000 from last year.
“Last year, we expanded our capacity to break ice with the purchase of an additional Amphibex,” said Melnick. “This year we have expanded our ice-cutting capabilities with the purchase of new ice‑cutting equipment. For the first time, we will be combining ground-penetrating radar and satellite imagery to help start developing a model to predict where and when ice jams are likely to occur.”
In addition, two new Bobcat remote-controlled ice-cutting machines have been purchased for a total of $240,000 and improvements have been made to the three existing amphibious ice cutters to increase their power and cutting efficiency.
The upgraded ice cutters will be equipped with global positioning system (GPS) tracking devices that will record units’ locations, times and ice-cutting functions. This will allow the preparation of maps indicating progress and better analysis of the ice-cutting program results.
Ground-penetrating radar has been used to determine ice thickness in planning the ice-cutting and breaking operations this year. Currently, the ice thickness on the Red River ranges from 30.5 to 58 centimetres (12 to 23 inches) while at this time last year it was 46 to 76 cm (18 to 30 in.) thick.
The ice cutting will start on the Red River near Netley Creek at the mouth of the Red River just south of Lake Winnipeg and will go south to the Selkirk Bridge. Warning signs will be set up along the area of operations.
Other ice-jam-prone rivers will be considered for icebreaking and cutting later in the spring.
“We are staffed up, fuelled up and ready to take on the job of preventing as much of the ice jam problem as we can,” said Selkirk Mayor David Bell, chair of North Red Community Water Maintenance Inc. Approximately 30 people will be employed to perform the ice-cutting and icebreaking work.
The original Amphibex has prevented several million dollars of damages along the Red River, the Whitemud River and for the communities of Waterhen and Ralls Island near the Pas, said the minister.
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