CONSTRUCTION, OPERATION, AND MAINTENANCE OF THE FORT CHIPEWYAN WINTER ICE ROAD

摘要

Fort Chipewyan, Alberta is a remote Northern community of a population of about 920 that isisolated on the north side of Lake Athabasca about 720 km north of Edmonton and 260 km north of FortMcMurray, Alberta. In the summer, goods are transported to the hamlet by air and barges, but in thewinter, after the lake freezes, an ice road is used. There is a time as between the first freeze-up andwhen the ice road is complete when the goods must be flown in. This paper discusses the constructionand maintenance practices for the Fort Chipewyan winter ice road. This ice road is over 195 km long andcomprises three main sections: (1) the "on-land" section, where the road is constructed in deep muskegin some areas and sand in others (2) several river crossings over the Athabasca, Embarras, QuatreFourches, and Des Roches Rivers (3) the final section of the road over Lake Athabasca. Constructionbegins usually in mid-November when the temperatures drop consistently below -18˚C at night and whenthe daytime temperatures do not permit thawing. The portions of the road through the sandy areas areworked on first, where the road is leveled using normal road construction equipment and the sand issprayed with water using 3000 Gallon water trucks to freeze the sand. The muskeg sections are thenleveled and frozen in the same way. Work on the rivers and lake must wait until the water bodies haveadequately frozen. On the lake, small trees are place alongside the road to mark the path. Whencomplete, a journey on the road will take approximately 4.5 h to travel from Fort McMurray to FortChipewyan. Operation conditions and maintenance of the ice road are also discussed.