Why didn we bring a coast guard hovercraft in to break the ice?
Once the Fraser River opened up enough to accept ice from the Nechako, the Amphibex was the mechanical solution chosen as it was feasible to bring the unit to Prince George and was deemed to be the unit to break up the ice. The EOC had looked at a number of mechanical solutions but ice jams in the past have typically melted before causing the degree of flooding seen this year. Once it was known this ice jam was not going to melt, a mechanical solution was researched and secured. There are examples elsewhere, where a number of municipalities share an amphibex unit and that option may be looked at here. Those units were not available for Prince George due to the need in their own communities. Dynamite and dark gravel have been used elsewhere and not found to be a viable solution for Prince George’s ice jam. The warm water and ground water solutions are novel ideas and are providing results expected by melting the ice and/or keeping channels open.
