Author(s): R. Gerard; F. Hicks; T. Macalpine; X. Chen
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Keywords: No Keywords
Abstract: This paper presents the results of a preliminary investigation of freezeup and breakup processes on the Mackenzie River at Ft. Providence, located in the southwestern portion of the Northwest Territories, Canada. Here, the Mackenzie River flows from the outlet of Great Slave Lake in a generally northeast direction interrupting the all-weather highway from Alberta to Yellowknife. As construction of a bridge is not yet economically feasible, the river crossing is achieved using a ferry in spring, summer and fall and an ice bridge during the winter. In the spring and fall, when breakup and freezeup processes threaten the ferry with moving ice, the crossing is closed and freight must be airlifted across the river by helicopter. The expense and inconvenience associated with crossing closure has led to great pressure to extend ferry operation periods. For example, in the last 10 years, winter operations have been extended beyond the freezeup period into January and February. Experience and observation suggest that there are often other windows of opportunity through the winter period which could further reduce the effective downtime of the crossing. One example of this is in the spring, between decommissioning of the ice bridge and initial ice movement at the ferry crossing. However, this would require a forecasting tool which could reliably predict imminent ice movement in the reach. A preliminary investigation into the nature of freezeup and breakup in this reach of the Mackenzie River has been initiated in order to develop a better understanding of the associated processes. It is hoped that this will lead to the eventual development of forecasting tools which could extend ferry operations.
Year: 1992