No Dawson City ice bridge this year, Yukon gov't announces to surprise of probably no one

CBC
·3-min read
The Yukon River at Dawson City earlier this winter. The river never completely froze over this winter at the site where the government-sanctioned ice bridge is usually built and maintained. (Chris MacIntyre/CBC - image credit)
The Yukon River at Dawson City earlier this winter. The river never completely froze over this winter at the site where the government-sanctioned ice bridge is usually built and maintained. (Chris MacIntyre/CBC - image credit)

West Dawson resident Duncan Smith wasn't exactly holding his breath.

"I mean, it was pretty obvious to anybody here that there wasn't going to be a proper ice bridge this year," he said.

Smith is among the small group of people who live across the Yukon River from the main townsite in Dawson City, Yukon, and who count on having some reliable way to get across the river for work, or supplies, or emergencies.

Most winters, that involves a government-constructed and sanctioned ice road across the river. But on Monday, with spring officially just days away, Dawson's temperature just below zero, and a stretch of open water still visible where the ice crossing would normally go, the Yukon government issued a news release that surprised probably nobody.

"Unfortunately, due to unfavourable conditions, construction will not proceed on this year's ice bridge in Dawson City," the release states.

"Due to temperature fluctuations and an upstream ice jam, open water remained in the location of the planned bridge, preventing construction of the crossing."

Bobbie Milnes, the territory's director of highways and public works, said the most important part of building an ice crossing is having — you guessed it — ice.

"We did leave it as long as we could, holding out hope that a kind of late cold snap might allow full coverage across the river. And it hasn't happened," Milnes said.

"We need about 10 days of ice coverage at the crossing site to begin to build up the ice bridge, and we just didn't get it this year."

Signage informing travellers that the maximum weight allowed on on the ice bridge is five thousand kilograms.
Signage informing travellers that the maximum weight allowed on on the ice bridge is five thousand kilograms.

Signage at the ice bridge in December 2020. (Submitted by Jim Regimbal)

It's happened before. In fact, a few winters ago the territorial government tried to help things along by spraying water at the river to hopefully build up enough of an ice cover. It didn't work, and the $120,000 experiment has not been tried again.

Still, Milnes says the government is looking at its options for other years when it can't build the crossing where it usually is. The plan is to hire a consultant to look at alternative routes.

"There's a lot of considerations involved in that and it's something that we'll be looking at in the next few months," he said.

"In terms of like a definite outcome, we just don't have one yet. There's still a lot of work to do."

Meantime this winter, some West Dawson residents have been using their own alternative crossing a little upriver from the usual spot, where the ice is solid enough to support vehicles. People who use that crossing do so at their own risk.

Smith said he's using it as much as possible while he can.

"We're doing some extra trips to town right now to get stuff while it's way more convenient, by truck. And then once the truck-ability goes down, then it's back to Ski-doo," he said.

"And we'll just do that and try to time our last shop so we're all stocked up for a long break-up."

He's a bit miffed at the government for advising Dawsonites in a news release earlier this winter to wait to cross the river until a "sanctioned ice bridge is in place."

"Anybody who was looking at the river in Dawson would laugh out loud at that, because that was a really distant prospect that it was going to happen at all this winter. We all knew it," Smith said.

"And then waiting until things are actually starting to melt in spring to say, 'hey, guess what, there won't be a sanctioned ice bridge' ...  it was so out of touch."

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