Stuck in the ice!

Amphibious excavators, or water diggers, as I called one last year when I wrote a story about it for my 3-year old grandson (now 4), are used in Ottawa's efforts to break up the ice on the Rideau River. I gave my fictional one a name, Arnie Amphibex.

The deployment of these amphibious vehicles is an alternative to the use of dynamite during the ice-breaking process, less harmful to the creatures in the river. We joke about the beavers and muskrats waking up with a headache when the explosions happen, but it isn't funny for them or for the fish.

Tuesday night, two "Arnies" were on the Ottawa River near the Rideau Falls, where a significant amount of broken ice from the Rideau River is now accumulating. It was night when we spotted them; one machine was lit up and working slowly and steadily, downstream from the falls. The other one, upstream of the falls, could hardly be seen because no light was on in its cabin. It seemed to be wrecked, wedged in the jagged ice. Curious, I went back next morning and saw that the vehicle was stuck indeed, still immobile in the same place, partly submerged, as my photo at the top of this blogpost shows, and presumably abandoned. The other Amphibex was no longer to be seen.

Public access to the footpath across the falls bridge was prohibited yesterday, but I found an impressive view from the lookout point to the side.

This morning, Thursday, there's an Amphibex poised to enter the Rideau River upstream from the falls, at the point where the ice-breaking team have stopped dynamiting. I haven't checked to see whether the wrecked one has been salvaged yet.