Ice Blasting on the Rideau River, Spring 2015

Ice blasting and clearing on the Rideau River beside the old Ottawa city hall.

[@ireneehache]

its the tax payers money again paying for all this dynamite

[@MonthlyFails]

Hello lacroixp10, is it possible to contact you regarding this video (i.e. via email)? We would be interested to discuss a license to use this video if this is generally possible to discuss? :) Cheers, Felix

[@Hagfan789]

Up here in Wi we just wait for the ice to melt in spring..This looks like fun tho..lol

[@elixtido1448]

I found myself chuckling with the woman

[@cliffjohnson2273]

why it looks like the ice is 6 to 10 inch thick so the water should wear it away. fast.

[@lacroixp10]

The problem is the ice would break up and pile up at the falls as they are narrower than the river and that would quickly dam the river. Once the flow would stop, it would take a long time for the ice jam to melt and that would cause flooding.

[@tangatoto362]

Every other day at work after this one would have been such a bore. It’s a boy thing😎

[@randallfrank5682]

How many fish come up dead?

[@lacroixp10]

None that I saw. Fish don't hang around the surface when the water is cold and the shock wave seems to be mostly absorbed by the ice since there is barely a wave in the water from the blast.

[@stevebennett9839]

For the ice chunks stuck on the bridge they should use a big hollow pipe with some type of screw head that can penetrate the ice a few inches then drop a stick of dynamite down the hollow pipe and the dynamite will go into the ice and blow it up better

[@jenswagner6255]

but why

[@lacroixp10]

It is to prevent ice damming. There are a waterfall just behind me and if they don't clear the ice, it will block the flow of the spring melt and flood parts of the city. They use a boat to do the rest but right at the edge is too risky for the operator and equipment so they blast the dangerous part.

[@lacroixp10]

To keep the ice from jamming at the falls a 100 or so feet downstream. If it jams, which it would be guaranteed to do so at that spot, it would cause major flooding throughout the city.

[@jamesbond9873]

Why not!

[@danielcunningham2394]

so who gets the fish?

[@lacroixp10]

The bigger fish downstream :-) I assume not many fish live at the top edge of a water fall so there probably aren't too many there. They only blast at the edge of the falls where it would be too risky to get other types of equipment to take care of the ice.

[@shivas3003]

murican fuck yeah ...

[@teodoroparagas5557]

this people they don't know. that blasting the ice snow in the river the Fish will die.

[@lacroixp10]

The blasting is only strong enough to fracture the ice and the shock wave doesn't penetrate the water much. If it did, you would see a large wave and there isn't one.

[@teodoroparagas5557]

@@lacroixp10 still dangerous to the baby fish

[@jtothefx]

That’s good for the fishery...

[@lacroixp10]

I don't think it harms the fish. The blast shock wave seems to be absorbed by the ice as it barely makes a wave in the water. If the shock wave would enter the water, there would be a significant wave in the water.

[@juzzybro2671]

@@lacroixp10 you have no fucking idea what you're talking about.

[@awdeveau]

@@lacroixp10 I've seen people fish with quarter sticks of dynamite, like an oversized firecracker. It makes a similar boom, little splash and no wave. Soon afterward you can see the fish float too the surface. Then just use a net.

[@lacroixp10]

@@awdeveau It would be worse if the blast was in the water but since it is on top of the ice, it seems to take most of the force from the blast. I was there for over an hour an saw no fish float up.

[@awdeveau]

@@lacroixp10 I don't doubt it. I'm sure they know what they're doing. Even if it did catch a fish or 2 it would be well worth it compared with the flood damages that could be caused by the ice jamming up. Thanks for the video.

[@WegrennerX]

Blow shit up

[@BAKLOVER]

смех идиотский

[@PacoOtis]

Pitiful! What a waste of time. These must be civil servants??

[@finscreenname]

Bad design. When they built it I'm sure the river froze over back then also. The piers are too tight together and to low making it so the walkway bridge would trap a pile up. Spillway is not big enough. Even the rounded piers don't help trapping ice everywhere but the spill way.

[@lacroixp10]

If you look, the ice jam is behind the bridge so it is not the pillars causing the jam. There is a waterfall just behind that and it has a really shallow edge and that is where the ice jams up.

[@Asae2]

way to much explosives just for fun :-)

[@davidking3311]

Looks like a fun job .

[@sirsoberme8964]

Shit I was in Rehab there 2015 . I know that was going on . Over six year sober .

[@klasandersson7522]

Congratulations on that in these turbulent times! 👍👍👍 It is far to many that don´t manage to keep sober, so I must give you kredit for it, good on you!!!

[@sirsoberme8964]

@@klasandersson7522 Thank you ! Its have money in the bank for the first time in 20 yrs help too . lol

[@klasandersson7522]

@@sirsoberme8964 Wow, that´s great!!! Yeh, money in the bank is awesome, it gives a whole new meaning to freedom! Me myself is handicaped, fysicaly and medicaly, so getting and keeping a job that gives enough money to save have been a problem. But I´m currently occupied, with a descent sallary so that I can put away something for a rainy day... 😉 Best of luck to you and as us sailing people say: Fair winds and following seas!

[@lacroixp10]

Congratulations. Glad to hear you are sober. :-)

[@rosewhite---]

Justin would not like that pollution.

[@lacroixp10]

This is 1/2 a block from his residence. It's at Rideau Falls which is two properties from 24 Sussex. 😁

[@lacroixp10]

BTW: The option would be to use heavy equipment to stop the ice dam which would pollute way more carbon.

[@philthycat1408]

Yeh, you'll be able to pole a lump of ice with a massive flowing river behind it. Now go catch a bus.👍

[@phi9249]

Fish kill count?

[@lacroixp10]

I don't think it harms the fish. The blast shock wave seems to be absorbed by the ice as it barely makes a wave in the water. If the shock wave would enter the water, there would be a significant wave in the water.

[@phi9249]

There are specific cautions concerning using explosives in fish habitats. I think you quite simply do not know what you are talking about. I am sure that they have permission to do this. I just think it is foolish.

[@Underbottom.Sandydown]

Best. Job. Ever.

[@thuthuypham6234]

La dame elle fou

[@jthepickle7]

Group Insurance.

[@kennethschultz6465]

Doe's the explotions kill the Fish

[@lacroixp10]

There doesn't seem to be much of a pressure wave going downwards so probably not many fish get harmed.

[@kakaqandil8010]

Best job ever.

[@f1sherman52]

but why?

[@lacroixp10]

To prevent ice damming at the waterfall a few 100 yards downstream which would cause flooding.

[@f1sherman52]

@@lacroixp10 ah

[@sharonkasper5126]

I can see a bunch of unemployed with jack hammers going at it. The cost of the explosives is pay for the workers. Oh, and supply a hot lunch. Make Canada great again.

[@ask1601]

Great way to waste money

[@daveberry9922]

what would gretta think about this

[@lacroixp10]

They only blast the first few hundred meters from the falls to prevent ice damming. The option would be to leave it alone and flood about 1/4 of a city of 1 million people every spring. All the debris, sewage, fuel, garbage, building materials, household items, etc. would wash up into our waterways and would add way more pollution than a few dozen small blasts. And that doesn't account for all the machinery that would be required to clean up such a large area after a flood.

[@moonlandingagain3228]

And so it is only Ottawa

[@lakelandsuper2606]

The wildlife probably love it

[@lacroixp10]

I don't think it harms the fish. The blast shock wave seems to be absorbed by the ice as it barely makes a wave in the water. If the shock wave would enter the water, there would be a significant wave in the water.

[@johnchristensen1209]

noone thinks of the poor fish..lol

[@aubreybryan5332]

What's the ultimate relevance of this type of sports??

[@lacroixp10]

It is for flood control, not a sport. Not sure how you would make a sport out of it.

[@JRUL1000]

se van a reir cuando les caiga un pedazo de hielo en el ocico....jiji

[@thesunsetreptiles]

What’s the point

[@lacroixp10]

As I explained below, it's to prevent ice dancing and is only done for 100 Meyers or so.

[@mrSkandalpolisen]

How about safety distance? Considering some of the blasts threw iceblocks up in the air for up to 8-9 seconds, i would like to see the distance from the blasting operator to the blasting at least trippled. Furthermore, there are far too many people in close range of the blasting. Spectators (or any person not involved in ”pushing the button”) should not be allowed to be ever nearly as close to the blast as the blasting operator.

[@hardcorehunter9155]

they're alot farther than u think

[@tjnholmes]

I bet you are a "blast" at parties!

[@1961casey]

Do you have anything to an actual measurement? The spectators were obviously far downstream from the blasting. The footage was taken by a drone which can operate closer to the blasting than humans, plainly. Lastly, how many times have they been blasting before you made your comment? Being an 'armchair' blasting operator usually works best with a certain amount of credible information before you make an opinion.

[@hrhjrd]

This is probably not the first time they have do this.

[@LongAssNaps]

FURTHERMORE

[@TheGodParticle]

Good luck with that one, lol!

[@shivas3003]

stfu

[@yt650]

The difference between someone that knows they can move those hunks of ice and a bystander who thinks they know. That’s why you have knowledgeable people do these things, you wouldn’t turn explosive loose to that woman. The big hunk of ice was already cracked and the flow of water behind it kept together until it got to spillway area.

[@stevenpreston5943]

Thats a fancy way for humans to pollute a river...