Ice Roads

Posted on by

Ice road near Salekhard, Russia.

Ice road near Salekhard, Russia.

Engineering is all about meeting the needs of society using the resources that are available. I recently heard of one very interesting example of a transportation system that was designed for a society with very specific resources and challenges – Siberian “ice roads.”

My father recently visited Salekhard, a town near the Arctic Circle in Siberia. Salekhard’s transportation system faces unique challenges due to its remoteness and its long, cold winters. Although roads made of typical paving materials are used within the town itself, it is not feasible to construct and maintain roads to the many remote villages that surround it. The solution: “зимники,” (pronounced “ZEEM-neek”) or “ice roads.”

Siberian “ice roads” are simply paths cutting through the snow and ice of the Siberian tundra that allow cars and trucks to drive through an area that would otherwise be impassible by automobiles. Although they are somewhat (but only slightly) maintained, these “roads” are by no means a walk in the park. They are extremely rough on a vehicle’s suspension, and the route is very poorly defined. In fact, it is advised that drivers only travel on an ice road at night, when their vehicle’s headlights cast shadows over the uneven road surface, helping them to stay on the actual road and not drift off on to the unmaintained tundra that surrounds it. Unfortunately, if a vehicle does drift off the road or break down in another way, the traveler(s) must wait in the subzero temperatures until a vehicle capable of assisting them happens to pass by. Due to remoteness of the area, this could be on the order of several hours.

“Ice roads” are not unique to Siberia. Many northern countries, including Canada, Estonia, the Scandinavian countries, and even the US, have their own ice roads. However, the terminology most often used by English speakers differs slightly from that used by Russians. While the “ice roads” of Siberia do include some river crossings, such as the road crossing the Ob River near Salekhard, they are primarily used to cross land (tundra). In common English usage, the term “winter road” is used to describe this type of path, while “ice road” specifically refers to a road built on a body of water that is frozen-over, such as a lake or river.

This water-crossing type of ice road owes its development largely to Canada’s Northwest Territories, where the landscape is dotted with many lakes of a variety of sizes. In the 1930’s, thriving mining operations in this remote northern region led truckers to create roads across frozen lakes to shorten the transport time of goods to and from these mining towns. This type of road soon gained traction (despite the ice) both in northern Canada and other arctic and subarctic regions of the world.

Although ice roads over water are inherently dangerous, they are fairly well understood and maintained, making them reasonably safe for the experienced ice road truck driver. Various rules designed to prevent road failure are in place on such routes. While the specifics of these rules differ from place to place, they share many common features. For example, on many roads, driving is only allowed during that day. Perhaps the most important of these rules limit the speed at which truckers may drive. Although one might that think these speed limits are in place to ensure proper traction between trucks’ tires and road-ice, they are actually intended to prevent the buildup of a pressure wave in the lake water that could damage the road.

One of the most famous ice roads, the “Road of Life” to Leningrad, provided that city a vital link to unoccupied Russian territory during the Siege of Leningrad by Nazi forces during WWII. This road across Lake Ladoga was used to transport food, medicine, and munitions into the city, and women, children, and the elderly out of it. This makeshift supply route served as the city’s lifeblood for the several year siege, being reconstructed by the determined Soviets each winter. Eventually, even rail-road tracks were laid on the ice in order to allow trains to cross the frozen lake.

The very existence of ice rods can teach the transportation engineer several very important lessons. Ice roads demonstrate the necessity of transportation for even the most inaccessible of locations. They also show mankind’s determination and willingness to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles in order to obtain this vital asset. Ice roads should challenge transportation engineers to produce better solutions by demonstrating that even the most challenging transportation problems can be overcome with determination and ingenuity.

———————————————————————————————————————

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjTIhsExWUw

http://www.theadventurists.com/the-ice-run-team-handbook/the-ice-roads

http://askyakutia.com/2012/12/bicycling-in-the-cold-winter-weather-ice-road-lena-river-yakutsk-siberia-russia-photos/

http://www.mining.com/ice-roads-in-russia-and-canada-hit-by-mild-weather-67712/

http://www.businessinsider.com/soldier-turned-ice-road-trucker-dies-while-pursuing-his-dream-2012-12

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_road

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_road

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/engineering/infrastructure/4212314

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/9450807.stm

http://www.thedieselgypsy.com/Ice%20Roads-3B-Denison.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salekhard

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_of_Life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBIqNk2P6Uk

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/siege_of_leningrad.htm

http://englishrussia.com/2011/11/29/lake-ladoga-and-the-road-of-life/

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/540/multiple=1&unique_number=635

http://dangerousroads.org/russia/2216-road-of-life.html

http://alexanderclark.squarespace.com/world-war-ii/2011/12/16/leningrads-road-of-life-1941.html

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/35555296

http://www.junebarbarossa.com/blog/530538-lake-ladoga-road-of-life/

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/leningrad.htm

http://www.saint-petersburg.com/history/siege.asp

http://histours.ru/tour.html

2,594 thoughts on “Ice Roads”

  1. İnsanların hayatlarında zaman zaman değişimler yaşanabilir. Bazen yeni baştan tutunmak, kutlamak ya da kendimize yakın hissettiğimiz insanlara jest yapmak. Amaç ne olursa olsun iyi bir anı biriktirmek istediğimizde zamanı unutulmaz hale getirmekte önemlidir. İşte karşımızdaki insanı mutlu etmenin en güzel ve kalıcı yolu ona çiçek almaktan geçer.
    Web : https://www.cicekgift.com/

    Reply ↓

  4. All in one video downloader
    All-in-one video downloader is the perfect video downloader script that lets you download videos in multiple formats, including MP4, M4A, and 3GP, from multiple sources, which include YouTube, Dailymotion, Vimeo, and more. With this powerful tool, you can easily grab all your favorite videos in the desired format without any trouble.
    https://allinonevideodownloader.com/

    Reply ↓

  5. I wanted to express my appreciation for this excellent post! completely appreciating every last particle of it. A beautiful share and wonderful site. a very helpful and informed post that is very informative. So I want to say thank you. Nice work! Thank for

    Reply ↓

  6. This post was amazing, I must say. This kind of helpful post has never been seen. I’m appreciative of your help and hope to see more entries like this one in the future. I’m grateful, as always.

    Reply ↓

  19. Gracias por compartir información excelente. Su sitio es tan genial. Estoy impresionado por los detalles que tiene en este sitio web. Revela lo bien que entiendes este tema. Marcó esta página web, volverá para obtener artículos adicionales. ¡Tú, mi amigo, ROCA! Encontré la información que ya busqué por todas partes y simplemente no pude encontrar. Qué sitio web ideal.
    Jkanime

    Reply ↓

  20. Gracias por compartir información excelente. Su sitio es tan genial. Estoy impresionado por los detalles que tiene en este sitio web. Revela lo bien que entiendes este tema. Marcó esta página web, volverá para obtener artículos adicionales. ¡Tú, mi amigo, ROCA! Encontré la información que ya busqué por todas partes y simplemente no pude encontrar. Qué sitio web ideal.Jkanime
    Jkanime

    Reply ↓

  25. Sizi kimsenin rahatsız etmeyeceği bir evde güvenli bir şekilde konaklama imkanına sahip olursanız evde kalacak kişi sayısına göre yatak bulundurulur. Bu evler kişi sayılarına göre ayrılmış olduğundan dolayı kalabalık bir grup olarak da gelebilir tek başınıza da gelmiş olabilirsiniz. Kısacası İstanbul’a gelmeyi planlıyor ve kalacak yeri dert ediyorsanız günlük kiralayacağınız daireler otel konforunda ama daha uygun fiyatla size hizmet vermektedir.
    Adres : https://www.ozyurtlargunlukkiralik.com/

    Reply ↓

  32. Baskı yapılması istenen tişört dar kesim ya da oversize olabilir. Oversize tişörtler beden üstü anlamına geliyor. Yani günlük olarak kullanılan tişörtlere göre daha büyüktür. Pek çok marka oversize tişörtleri önemserken kullanıcılarda oversite tişörtler üzerine baskı yaparak kendi tarzlarını oluşturmak istemişlerdir.
    Kaynakça : https://bikafa.com/

    Reply ↓

  42. Hello,Aryan will discuss on this side. Any kind of money that exists
    digitally or virtually and uses cryptography to safeguard transactions
    is referred to as cryptocurrency, sometimes known as crypto-currency or
    crypto. Without a central issuing or regulating body, cryptocurrencies
    use a decentralised mechanism to track transactions and create new units.
    indian cryptocurrency coins

    Reply ↓

  45. “As a result of low adoption, we have decided to sunset the Sales Navigator for gmail login feature on March 18, 2020.”

    Responding to GeekWire’s inquiry this week, LinkedIn didn’t address a question about whether competition with Google played into the decision. LinkedIn does offer similar Sales Navigator integration with Outlook in Microsoft’s Office 365.

    But the extension also works against LinkedIn’s interests in another way: Users are able to leverage the extension’s email detection capabilities to confirm that they have the correct email address for someone they’re seeking to reach, as long as the person registered the address with their LinkedIn account. By guessing a variety of logical variations, it’s possible to reverse-engineer the accurate email for someone whose address is otherwise unknown. That reduces the need to subscribe to premium versions of LinkedIn with paid messaging capabilities.

    The tool is commonly used by salespeople looking to find accurate contact information and details about decision-makers as they pursue leads and new deals.

    Some alternatives are available, such as Discoverly and SalesQL, but they generally don’t offer the same level of LinkedIn integration as the first-party extension.

    Reply ↓

  50. guru iptv : is the best subscription service provider for the last 4 years, giving you more than 16K channels from various countries around the globe. Nothing can beat our TV channels streaming quality. Best provider subscription service provider comparing price, service quality, and customer supports. We have over 16K TV channels including premium sports & Movies, Series, & Documentary channels. Nothing can beat our TV channels streaming quality.

    Reply ↓

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *