We're almost in mid-February, on the downward side of Old Man Winter. How far away can spring be? Close, but in our minds, viewing the snow-laden environment that surrounds us, too far. We read in yesterday's paper that the process of freeing up the Rideau River from its winterbound state is beginning. Early this year, it seems.

City of Ottawa crews get started on the annual ice breaking operations on the Rideau River. Photograph by: Chris Mikula, Ottawa Citizen

 

As we drove the Ottawa River Parkway from our west-end location to arrive in downtown Ottawa, heading for the Byward Market, we passed the Rideau Falls and could see the activity commencing. The keys were being cut, had been cut, and orange-suited municipal workers could be seen below, struggling with huge saws and another contraption that is new to us, a larger, more technologically advanced ice-cutting device. Purportedly, its use has minimized the need for explosives.

Powerful saws make quick work of the ice as a work crew cuts slots or ‘keys’ in the Rideau River.  Photograph by: Wayne Cuddington, Ottawa Citizen

 

Explosives are still being used, but minimally, only in areas where the machines cannot be useful because it's too difficult to position them usefully in certain places.

Before long March will arrive, and the opportunity to see impressively huge ice pans floating downriver, tumbling off the elevated portion of the river just beside the falls into the river below, their weight causing them to sink in an immense splash of freezing river water, surfacing soon afterward to continue their journey downstream will beckon. It's quite the sight, fascinating to watch as this hugely thick ice sheets slide past, crash below and float serenely on.


Ice blocks over the Rideau Falls at the Ottawa river 
 
When we first saw this yearly event, we were amazed. The power and majesty of the natural elements that surround us never fails to impress us. In the event, this key-cutting exercise is a preemptive effort to forestall flooding, a natural enough occurrence that can have grave consequences to public safety and the destruction of the hundreds of buildings existing along the river shoreline.

The amphibex can crawl up on the ice surface and break it apart using its weight alone. If that doesn’t work, the hydraulic arm can finish the job.     Photograph by: Chris Mikula, The Ottawa Citizen