) r- (, , S:. ( •• NORMAN Indian and Northern Affairs ':anada WELLS - °' •I Atta,res indiennes et du Non:!Canadi'l ~I r, L PROJECT L I f JUNE '84 REVIEW INFORMATION PlPELINE ,u·,~ ISLANDS WITHSTAND BREAK-UP Break-up of ice o n the Mackenzie River is always a big event at Norman Wells and one that generates a lot of talk and wager s over when it will actua lly take place . It mean s river traffic and the inten sive work sc hedule s of summer. It mean s the pressure s of meeting summer 's deadline s for co nstruction . But thi s year it meant a littl e more. Although thi s year wa s not as spec tacular as usual, it is the first year any of E sso Reso urces Canada Limited' s man-made island s hav e been comp let e and jutting out of the river, obstacles for the incredible force s of moving ice . According to Es so engineer s, the islands are designed to stay intact throu gh virtually any river co ndi tions and withstand water levels 2 .6 met res higher than any on record for th e Mackenzie River. The ice, exp lained project superintendent Tom Melnyk, will pile up at th e toe of the island s rather than go over the top . Neverthel ess, drilling work on the island s was called to a halt once break-up see med imminent. Mo st of the rig crews were ashore, though a few shirtle ss rig ha nd s we~e out . doing spr ing cleaning, while hehcopter s made frequent .hop s between the island s and the mainland, mov ing people and equipment. DENE THA BAND ,. lEGHALAGENDA T'AH UNDAA GOGHA 1 EDEGHA SEENIOG('AH mczhi'goghah1da Long before break-up occurred at Norman Well s, Esso' s ice recon naissance team was flying over the river, taking aerial photograph s and charting ice condition s many kilometre s to the sout h. The research being done is adding new information not only on the behavior of the Macken zie River, but on major ice-covered river s in general. Thi s inten sive monitorin g of ice on the big river ha s been go ing on for six years now. The reco nnai ssa nce team is already familiar wit h many of the pattern s of break-up. They predicted a very unspectacular break-up thi s yea r, and the y were right. The ice broke at Norman Well s on May 21, after a lot of melting had already taken place . Needl ess to say, this year 's monito ring gro up had the added tas k of watc hing for any disturb ances to th e island s from the break-up . But they were also watch ing for the effect s of the island s on the break-up, noted enginee r Terry Kemp, head of th e monitoring team . T he island s behaved exactl y as planned, he said, af ter br eak-up was over. ,.~ ·-...-:; r·:._,;-- . .., ; . '~ • "J'7°' ..i:: ~ L..Norman Well s facilitie s just b e for e break -up (CPF at lef t, Esso HQ a nd c amp , yar d at right) l '. f.- __, ,. ~ (. , (_, Terry Kemp and Margareta Kuyper s, in reconnaissance tea m , with their pilot Arnie Desang "There' s a lot of mea surin g go ing on, and a ll of it will be tied into one big picture of the ent ire event , " said Sanjay Shinde, island designer . Information sys tem s built into the islands radio dat a on ice press ur es to the mainland every fifteen minutes , he sa id . Esso is committed to doin g th e river and ice monitorin g befo re the islands ca n go int o prod uctio n, und er ag reements with th e federa l governme nt. The program will co ntinue at least until 1990. • Esso Island at break -up . Ca11ada I