As I write this, the Tibbitt to Contwoyto iceroad remains open for another few days, however ECL and our partners at ARS have completed another stellar year; and in record time. In the relatively short season, we managed to haul over 1200 loads of diesel fuel totaling 53.4 million litres  safely over the ice and into the Diavik Diamond mine.

I left Edmonton on February 2nd of this year, which was over a week later than usual and returned home on March 12th. In no previous year have I left Yellowknife prior to March 31st which gives you some indication of just how short the season actually was. We started late due to extreme cold and snow which hindered the building of the road, and finished early because once the road was built it was exceptional and therefore we had minimal delays. We did however, have some brutally cold weather with wind-chills down in the –50s range that caused some issues with the equipment, but overall even they were fewer than usual.

In order to build good ice for trucking, the optimal temperature range is –20C to –27C. If the temperature drops much lower than this, the ice becomes brittle and breaks apart and therefore very rough and hard on the equipment. The ice also cannot be properly repaired in these temperatures. As the weather warms up, the ice becomes more flexible and therefore the road becomes stronger and better for the trucks. There were a couple of “blowouts” on the lakes reportedly caused by loaded trucks travelling too fast and some thinning ice caused by the ice being underwashed by waves from the passing vehicles, but overall it was the best road in recent history.

Thanks to everyone who was involved for all of your support and a job well done!

You can check out the road updates and some awesome pictures by ECL drivers Trevor Mason and Dale Siepert in the left sidebar.

Now for some time off…

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