Ice Boom Busted In Storm

Wednesday's severe winter storm which brought near hurricane force wind gusts and created a near record 12-foot surge of the water level in Lake Erie's Eastern end was apparently too much for Buffalo’s venerable Ice Boom.

"It was made to take a lot of weight and quite a beating," said Lou Paonessa of the New York Power Authority. However, Paonessa confirms 2 of the 22 sections which make up the Ice Boom gave way during the storm.

The boom is a nearly two-mile long series of steel pontoons chained together and anchored to the lake bottom. The Power Authority has installed the device across the mouth of the Niagara River every year since 1964 to keep ice on Lake Erie from entering the river and possibly jamming the water intakes for the Robert Moses hydro-electric power plant located approximately 13 miles downstream.

While Paonessa stressed enough of the boom remains in tact to prevent a major incursion of ice, there is already evidence of its minor failing at the intakes. There, two ice breakers, one from the US and the other from Canada, are doing double duty to keep the area clear of ice.

Meanwhile, another ice breaker is plying the waters of Buffalo Harbor and clearing a path to the boom so a barge can be brought out to act as a staging area for repair crews, possibly as early as this weekend.

Paonessa says until engineers can take a closer look the extent of the damage an estimate of how long needed repairs might take cannot be made.

"We have spare parts on hand for just such an occurrence and hopefully the repairs can be made quickly," he said, adding the Power Authority decided to make the repairs now lest another severe storm cause additional damage.

Courtesy WGRZ.com
Dave McKinley