Another sign that spring is heading our way – the ice boom is being removed from the mouth of the Niagara River today, by the New York Power Authority. If you’re thinking that this has got to be the earliest removal date yet, according to International Joint Commission’s International Niagara Board of Control, the earliest date on record was February 28, 2012. The latest removal date was May 3, 1971.
While the ice boom is owned and operated by the New York Power Authority and Ontario Power Generation, the process is coordinated by the International Niagara Board of Control, under the direction of the International Joint Commission. The process of installing the ice boom each year began in 1964. It was was introduced to curb the amount of large ice floes that would get jammed up at intakes for hydro-electric power production.
For more information see www.ijc.org/en_/inbc/ice_boom | Also view moment by moment video of ice boom here – be sure to check out the color view option, to see the removal of the 22 spans already underway.
To learn everything that you ever wanted to know about the ice boom, check out this video produced by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.