It's that time of year. Again. Glad to see its arrival. If anything heralds the arrival of spring in the National Capital area, the blasting of ice on the Rideau River, around the Rideau Falls surely is the most significant.
 
And there it is, the long-awaited start of the break-up. Its purpose to prevent flooding along the river's watershed. Which is 3,800 sq.km in length, leaving 900 structures to be prevented from flooding. Quite aside from spring-runoff flooding towns along the length of the waterway.

Crews work a large rotary saw as ice breaking operations on the Rideau River between Rideau Falls and Hog's Back. Blasting will follow starting on March 2. All operations will take place weather and ice conditions permitting. The City, in partnership with the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority, undertakes ice breaking operations each year to alleviate possible spring flooding in flood-prone areas.   Photograph by: Wayne Cuddington, Ottawa Citizen

 

For us, it has always been an especial early-spring rite, when our children were young, to trip over to the Rideau Falls to watch, mesmerized as great pans of ice slide their way, along the river to come crashing down over the falls once the break-up occurred.

It's a spectacular sight to behold, viewing those huge frozen sheets of thick ice on their journey down river, slipping under the bridge and over the falls into the river below.

Sending up huge waves of frozen water to spray high above the river, leaving a foaming residue, and the ice pan to swiftly bob back to the surface of the river, then make its way down river, slowly beginning its journey to the melting stage with the eventual, inexorable arrival of warmer weather.

Work continues breaking up the ice on the Rideau River as part of flood control operations Monday, March 4, 2013.

Photograph by: Chris Mikula, Ottawa Citizen