Ice boom
 

Thought maybe someone might find this interesting. Every winter an ice boom is stuung across the Niagara River between Buffalo and Canada. It's purpose is to prevent the ice in Lake Erie from traveling down the river towards Niagara Falls where it would damage the power plant. Here is a section of it being towed out from where it's stored.

It need some Christmas lights

I'm not sure if they light it. It doesn't look like there's any lights on it to warn you it's there. No one's ever hit it that I've heard of.

never knew such a thing existed. I would imagine river traffic is pretty low this time of year

Traffic is low but you can never be sure what a fisherman will do. Local communities actually get money from the power company due to the change in weather (temperature mostly) that is caused by holding all the ice in the lake til it melts.

They put several out up here on st Lawrence also. I learned the hard way they put them out on weekends. I once jumped one with my 16ft duck boat at 25 mph full of gear and my duck dog. I had hunted that Saturday morning and passsed by where the ice boom would be installed. The weather was nasty on Sunday morning blowing a stiff west wind and blowing snow in my face as I traveled to my blind in the dark. As I passed by that same spot, at the last minute I could see a small chop breaking over the timbers but it was too late. The boat went airborne just like the guys in the south jump beaver dams with mud motors and splashed back in the water. I shut the engine off and checked the prop and skeg. Didn't even chip the paint! I got very lucky, while others over the years are not. I learned my lesson.

These are a pretty decent gauge steel at least the diameter of a 55 gal drum, probably a little more actually. I'll bet you'd put a.big chip in the paint. Nothing glassdave couldn't buff out though lol.

Yah ours up here are marked at the ends with big 55 gallon drums painted yellow, the booms themselves are like a big wooden railroad tie chained together at the ends, which they only stick up above the surface of the water by a few inches making them hard to see.

They don't mark the ends here, it goes shore to shore. Once they put it in you don't get by it till spring.

You can read all about it here: http://ijc.org/greatlakesconnection/...iver-ice-boom/

I recall I was a kid growing up in Fort Erie, Ontario across the river from Buffalo, NY when the boom was first installed in 1964. In the months before there was a lot of controversy as residents were concerned that the ice being retained by the boom would keep temperatures in the area cooler in the spring months long after the Lake Erie ice would have normally all gone down the river. They agreed to remove the boom by April 1st each year to satisfy the critics. Residents were right tho, it did stay cooler longer.

BTB