Ice in Bridgewater NS

by Mike Browne on February 4, 2003

in old stuff

I got an email from an former Save Easy co-worker, Tammy who still lives in NS. Apparently there’s some bad news ice wise in Bridgewater. I knew about it already from my online subscription to The Bulletin but Tammy forwarded pictures with descriptive text from her friend. As soon as I saw these I had to post them.

Here’s an edited version of what she sent with links to more pictures below:

Sent: Monday, February 03, 2003 9:42 AM

Subject: Ice

Currently, both bridges and the King Street elevated parking lot are closed to vehicular traffic from the threat of ice pressure built up against bridge abutments.

…You can see how close the ice piles are to the girders of the bridge span. In photo one, you can barely tell that the ice is higher than the metal sheathing used to protect the bridge abutments.

The remaining photos show what you can see of the old bridge, given all the good vantage points are off limits. Note how the ice has invaded the truss structures underneath the bridge. There are unconfirmed reports that the superstructure of the old bridge has buckled from the ice. Photo #4 shows the ice build up around the trusses. In photo #5, there is a slim white line of snow crossing the bridge deck. Note the sidewalk and guard rail where this line crosses the bridge – it does not appear quite level to me, but I can’t tell you if this is a buckle.

I did wander behind Ko’s and the Scotia Business Centre at the corner of King and Dufferin. There are fire escapes behind these buidlings that lead to an embankment ordinarily a metre or so above the water line, and ordinarily dry land. This morning, the bottom steps of these fire escapes are under water, and the river is fast against the foundations, and in some cases, above the foundations of the waterfront buildings on King Street.

This has attracted a Canada Day crowd to King Street. Lots o’ excitement. The high tide has just recently occurred, and time will tell whether the retreating tide will loosen the ice jam. There is speculation of dynamiting the ice, again, unconfirmed.