Monday, February 14, 2011

Churchill River Causeway/Bridge

Yes indeed.

Sunny but extremely cold for three weeks & very little snow in Central LABRADOR.

When this kind of situation developes the frost creaps down deep into ground further & further. This happens because there is no natural blanket of snow to stop it.

I put a question forward at the Labrador Friendship Center a few years ago about the Churchill River Causeway/Bridge. I asked the folks holding a meeting there concerning this issue; "will this causeway/bridge stand the test of time?" I asked this question because this construction was done on sand, which, to our knowledge was never done before. The answer was, yes it will.

This test maybe imminent when the Spring arrives. I say this because Churchill River is very wide & when the run-off's from the snow in the forrest occurs this year, they will have nowhere to go but into the river because the melting snow will not be able to penetrate the frozen ground.

The ice coming down the river & the large amount of water flowing into it may cause drastic damage to the causeway/bridge. All that ice and water will try to get through the narrow opening under the bridge at the same time.

We had a pile-up of ice on this causeway a couple years ago which bent the railing in over the causeway leaving large chunks of ice blocking one lane.

A few of us, including our friend Mr.Gerald Dyson suggested that the bridge go over the solid rocks of Muskrat Falls, just a short distance across. Like Gerald used to say, you could throw a rock across the river there because the distance was so short, but that was not to be. Our provincial government's engineers along with our MHA saw it in their wisdom that the sandy route was the way to go. We shall see.

Rest in peace Gerald. All of Labrador will miss you deeply. Yourself & your wife were true and devoted Labradorians.

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