Ice Break Up On the River

An impressive spring sight in Ottawa is watching the ice from the Rideau River rush over the Rideau Falls into the Ottawa River.

(Rideau means "curtain" in French: the water going over the falls - and the ice that forms in winter do resemble curtains.)














To prevent flooding along the Rideau River, in early spring city workers dynamite the ice to break it up.














They then work to move the ice into the Ottawa River (a much larger river) through the gates of the dam at the top of the falls.














Over the winter, ice builds up on the dam as well. The workers (in red) are trying to clear it away.

Once all the gates are open, the the whole river is a mass of rushing ice blocks shooting over the falls. But we were a day or two early.














Only the gate on the right was open when we stopped by on Sunday. Below it, blocks of ice were beginning to collect. When all the gates are unblocked, the foot of the falls becomes a mound of giant ice blocks from one side of the dam to the other, an impressive sight seen only in early spring.