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WHEN THE ROUGH GET GOING
Winter Ice Roads Provide Necessary Goods - By Sharleigh

People who live and work in the remote northern areas of Canada and the Arctic are accustomed to the hardships caused by the cold weather. One of the ways they deal with transporting goods is the use of ice roads. During the winter months, permafrost conditions and harsh terrain make it impossible to maintain a solid roadbed that is able to support big trucks. In response to this challenge, the Government of the Northwest Territories (NWT) and some private companies arduously construct several ice roads by clearing frozen ground and frozen lakes, to serve as temporary supply routes between major cities and isolated communities or mine sites. On an average, these roads are open for about eight weeks.

These roads, built over frozen lakes and tundra, offer an alternative to air supply for areas not on the regular road system. Ice roads are used to transport food, fuel, and special construction materials needed in isolated places and mine sites. Their condition is strongly affected by weather. Extreme shifts in temperature can open large cracks and gaps in apparently finished roads and pressure ridges may also form. Drivers on ice roads travel at their own risk. Although it seems like a frightening concept, the ice roads have proven themselves to be safe and economical for transporting goods in the winter months.

Modern scientific knowledge has increased the safety factor of traveling over ice, but it was not always this sophisticated. In the past, the most common method of transportation in the NWT was dog team. Trappers, hunters and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were the most frequent users of this type of travel. The distances traveled by sled and dogs were not always limited to any specific range. It was common to travel hundreds of miles at a time to reach the desired destination. The dog team has been replaced by the snowmobile and, today, only a few working dog teams remain.

Another method of transportation which has faded into history is the cat train. Between the 1920s through 1960s a cat train (or tractor train) consisting of two tractors would haul several sleigh loads of supplies over frozen terrain. It took seven men to operate these trains. Each train was completely self-sufficient. Along the way, many problems were encountered. All spare parts had to be brought along in addition to the regular payload. They would continue on regardless of weather, bush or ice. At the end of the day's run, maintenance and repairs were done on site. Many times, a mechanic would have to make a replacement part on the spot.

A caboose was hooked up to the end of the sleighs. The caboose could house the men and contained bunks, a stove and a galley. It's hard to believe, but men called these cat trains home for two to three months at a time. Constantly on the move, enduring each other’s company and on top of that trying to control a 20-ton sleigh loaded with freight, these pioneers battled not only rough roads and blizzards, but worked outside where the cold would drop to minus 40 below zero. Always on the lookout for signs of cracked ice when crossing lakes and rivers, the only safety precaution was an open tractor seat - just in case the driver had to "bail out" if the tractor broke through the ice. Can you imagine driving an open tractor in a blizzard or with the temperature dipping to minus 40 below zero?

There is a well-known pioneer in wilderness freight hauling. His name is Svein Sigfusson. “Sigfusson’s Road” is a book he wrote about the building of the roads and his own personal winter hauling experiences. His company, Sigfusson Transportation Company, started hauling in 1948. By the mid-1950s, his company had built 3,500 miles of winter roads in Manitoba and Ontario. Today, they are still a major builder and hauler in Ontario.

The 1960s ushered in a more economical way of hauling freight when semi-trailer trucks replaced the cat trains and ice roads became more prevalent. So how do they build these roads? Planning for winter roads can start as early as July. Airplanes and helicopters study the terrain, underwater reefs and currents. The information is then mapped and used to select winter road routings and to determine construction methods.

Winter road building starts in mid-December. Through bush, swamp and lakes, the area is packed and plowed smooth. Forty inches of ice will support an 80,000-pound rig. Ground penetrating radar is used to determine ice thickness. When it is safe to venture out on the ice, light track vehicles scout the area and confirm the integrity of the ice. Depending on the amount of ice, plows or regular graders will follow the trucks to clear the road and accelerate ice build-up. Once the road is open, six-wheel-drive and eight-wheel-drive trucks with custom plows, maintain the lake crossings while hauling freight and leading convoys of trucks over the route.

The monitoring of ice to determine how freight can safely be moved has almost become a science. There is a close relationship between the thickness of the ice, proximity to reefs and shore, the weight of the load, the speed of the vehicle and the distance between vehicles on the road. Miscalculations may result in a wave action under the ice strong enough to break the surface (called an ice blow-out). But do the haulers worry? Not really. Always careful, experienced drivers know how to gauge and safely drive the ice waves by crawling at a slow speed and not breaching the crest.

Traffic is also regulated to avoid storm conditions and to prevent excessive wearing of the roads. At times, blizzards force the temporary closure of ice roads. To get the maximum use of the short hauling season, operation continues 24 hours a day whenever possible. Near the end of the season, when the weather begins to warm up and the ice begins to thin, the roads are closely monitored. When the thickness of the ice is determined to be unsafe, the ice road is closed.

Throughout history these men - from the cat train operators to the modern rig drivers - have braved the elements with daring skill to improve the quality of life for the far northern settlements. Truth is, they are the ones that have made it possible for the settlements to exist. So the next time you want to complain about the condition of that superhighway or the weather, stop and think about those poor drivers, crossing the frozen tundra, and facing danger and death on a regular basis in the Great White North and beyond.

WHEN THE ROUGH GET GOING Winter Ice Roads Provide Necessary Goods - By Sharleigh

WHEN THE ROUGH GET GOING
Winter Ice Roads Provide Necessary Goods - By Sharleigh