Ice Waves ???

[Hookset]

Hi All,

 

This past weekend we had a bungalow rented on Nippissing for the weekend.

No report 'cuz the fishing sucked, so we drank too much, and I forgot all about the camera.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

 

Anyway, there were full size vehicles running all over Callander Bay.

Some would cruise along at about 30 k.m. per hour but then in the middle of the night a full size S.U.V. went smoking past our hut, maybe 30 feet away, and he must have been doing over 100 k.m. / hour. Way over.

It rocked our 6 man bungalow pretty good.

 

What I was wondering was, I was told that the faster you go, the larger of a wave is pushed along ahead of you under the ice. This increases the possibility that you would actually catch up to the wave and break through or force the wave to break the ice ahead of you. I've heard this from a lot of people but have never seen proof of it, and I've never seen anyone report that as the cause of going through the ice.

 

Just wondering if it's true or just a pile of bunk.

 

Thanks,

 

 

Hookset.

[lew]

I saw a show awhile back on Discovery Channel about the same thing with the huge tractor trailers that travel the ice roads in the Arctic.

 

It was explaining how they'd push a wave of water ahead of them under the ice and if they went too fast, it could break thru in front of them, or it could travel all the way to the shore and then bust out there and leave open water between the ice & shore.

 

It showed a few trucks that broke thru holes they'd created themselves and it didn't sound as if they received too much sympathy from anyone, specially the other drivers that couldn't get by with their own deliveries as their pretty well confined to specific "lanes" on the ice.

 

I forget the speed their restricted to but it was very slow, something like 25 KPH and if their caught exceeding it, the consequenses could be quite severe.

 

It was an extremely interesting show if anyone ever gets a chance to watch it again.

Edited February 6, 2008 by lew

[Tybo]

A ice wave has little effect on open ice.

It can weaken the ice in front of you. Some time causing the ice to break.

It has the most effect when going to shore.

The water has nowhere to go when it hits shore .

Making a pressure crack.

[cranks bait]

Yup it's true. Saw an episode of it on Discovery channel for the "iceway" up north. It's the only road in the winter and transports use it all the time. They have very strict speeds for this as the waves do happen and weaken the ice, especially near the shore where it can pop.

 

Not very smart of the people in the vehicle. They probably had too much to drink as well. They should repect all people on the ice and slow down.

[cranks bait]

Looks like Lew beat me. Sounds like the same show, and yes it is interesting.

[Terry]

it is a mathematical equation as to what speed along with the weight of the truck...I doubt that cars or pickups could make a wave big enough to open it up, unless they were on a couple of inches of ice....

[Kerry]

Aside from the concerns of an ice wave I'm glad the idiot didn't hit your guys hut being only 30 ft away.If they ever hit a rut there'd be no way of controlling their vehicle out there.

Kerry