Graders going where ??

[Northart]

Found these pix on the Canadian Oil Patch website.

Graders going where ???

[Dwan Hall]

Not nice. Looks like a cold ride

[DPete]

That is not good

[bobcatmechanic]

looks like going through the ice they both drove across the ice before they broke through i would say making winter roads

[ovrszd]

That second picture freaked me out!!!!

[DPete]

I would think that to take off across a frozen lake would be unnerving to say the least. There must be some way to check the thickness first like ulta sound or some way to insure it is safe. Not only is it dangerous for the operator, now you have oil and fuel in the lake plus the teardown to clean up the machines compartments and the chore of getting it out, wonder who will hook up the cable? Seems a little irresponsible and very costly to me, glad I don't have to do it!

[curly]

Yeah you would think the thickness would have been checked already, unless they thought they were still on the ground. Notice how in the swimming picture the tracks get progressively deeper?

[Randy Krieg]

Gentlemen
Art's just funning a little. As you can see from the following pictures we do check the ice thickness. The guy on the snowmachine has a stainless steel razor drill and a rod with a folding latch, which hooks the bottom of the ice. Only a fool would cross without checking. These pictures were shot last year and I was hauling dynamite and drilling stems to a seismic company. I had to cross a few rivers and actually traveled north several miles on the one river. I park on grounded ice (as can be seen by the weeds) until the driller has checked the depth and relayed the thickness (via radio) to me. I have a chart and manuals which show the minimum thickness and spacing require for different weights. Yes; it is very nerving at times, but if the ice isn't good quality and the proper thickness, I'm not crossing it. I've seen too many machines through the ice from fools who didn't listen. Yes; I know it's still possible to find a weak spot, but I try to do everything to lessin the odds. I knew an operator who fell through and even though it was only cab height this huge chunk of ice came crashing through the back window right when the machine hit bottom. Killed him! Far more people get killed on America's highways everyday then ever get killed on these iceroads. When I can't go any further I get on land and call for the Huey to unload me.
Remember; it's all in the search for more OIL!!!!

Time for some sleep.....................

[Northart]

Hi Randy,

The pics I put up were from Canada, so I do not know the circumstances.

What river are you on in the pics? Looks like the Talkeetna with the big cottonwoods.Just upstream from me several miles. Matanuska?

Yes river ice erodes from underneath also, so the thickness varies where the current flows.

Salt water and freshwater ice strength also varies. Takes 54 " of salt ice to carry what 48" of fresh ice will. Near shore is the thinnest,or weakest.

Nice pictures of ice roads.

Hasn't been cold enough here to freeze the Talkeetna over yet. Still open.

[ovrszd]

This is totally off the grader subject, but applies to ice roads. In 1984 I went to Alaska with my Army Reserve unit to support the Infantry Brigade up there with their Brim Frost exercise in late January/early February. Our vehicles were Dodge pickups with single axle trailers. They loaded our vehicles in C-130s and airdropped them into an area 30 miles South of Fairbanks called Bear Lake I think.

Anyway we spent two weeks up there living in tents and when it was time to leave we drove overland back to Fairbanks. We crossed two rivers but I have no idea what their names were. The weather had been unseasonably warm and the ice was too thin naturally. So the Army set up water cannons and shot water out onto the rivers to thicken the ice. We had to cross in low gear with the doors open, like that was gonna matter. It was a very cool adventure.

The thing I remember most was when we came into Fairbanks. There was a traffic light on a fourlane street. As we sat at the light waiting for green a dogsled pulled alongside. I'd never saw anything like that!!!

[redlaker1]

around here they use big auger pumps, either truck mounted or towed on skids, to flood the roads until there is enough ice. they are usually 18-24" diameter and drill the hole through, then they throttle up and auger the water up through the hole.

[Northart]

Auger up water ? Huh ! Never heard of that method. Do they do that in the center of the road or off to the side ?

How much ice is needed to go out for the 1st time with the auger ?

Any pictures ?

[redlaker1]

here are a few pictures of a company flooding the road and pads for diamond drills on the lake out in front of my house. this is a pretty slick setup. the one my friend uses for flooding ice roads is similar, but a bit smaller and on a small sleigh type setup so it can be towed behind a snowmachine or a quad, half ton or whatever. they usually drill right in the center of the road, and will be out there as soon as they can get the road plowed off, either with a pickup, or a groomer/snowcat

the third photo is of some sort of ice auger setup with a nozzle that I don't know anything about.

if you have any other questions about the ice roads and such around here I can try my best to answer them

[Dwan Hall]

Cool

[ovrszd]

The auger system would require less energy to flood the road than a water pump might. Down side would be the water isn't directed to any specific area, just allowed to puddle so more frequent holes with augers would be needed.

You know it's cold outside when the water augered up builds ice rather than melting the existing ice!!!