On Thu, Dec 25, 2008 at 8:15 PM, Richard Degelder <rtdegel...@gmail.com> wrote:
> As one of those southerners that is going to be puzzled when I see a > roadway that goes from land over water without a bridge or ferry, and > not using a ford either, I have one question. Do the ice roads > generally go in the same place each year or do they vary in location on > the lake from one year to another? At least I will know to look for > restrictions, which will note that the road is only open during the > winter, when I see these roads. Richard, I think this is a perfect question for discussion on the reflector, and probably for inclusion on the Wiki as well. Generally the ice roads follow the same path every season. As some of the roads consist of sections over land, as well as sections over water, there is a need to follow the same track. Sections across land will have obstacles such as rocks and trees removed, which means that the transition point from land to water will always be in the same place. The section across water (or more correctly, ice) could vary slightly from year to year, or even during the road's open season due to holes needing to be detoured around. Occasionally vehicles will break through the ice, and ice road will need to be moved to a new location. Ice bridges are also used to allow traffic to move across bodies of water during the winter. During the summer months, at some locations, ferries run moving traffic across the river or lake. For a time in the fall during freeze up, and in the spring during break up neither ferries for the ice bridge can move vehicular traffic across the water. Here's how Google Maps depicts a crossing on the Liard River near Fort Simpson. http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=61.740061,-121.220741&spn=0.046653,0.154495&z=13 Wikipedia describes ice roads nicely as well. The NWT government maintains a live website which allows travellers to check on the condition of the ice roads. There are a number of interesting website links off of these pages. James VE6SRV _______________________________________________ Talk-ca mailing list Talk-ca@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-ca
