Ice wall melting quickly — revealing major damage
February windstorm turned Fort Erie waterfront into backdrop for selfies
The massive wall of ice that struck Fort Erie’s waterfront eight weeks ago isn’t quite so formidable now.
In fact, it’s fading quickly. Immediately after the Feb. 24 windstorm that caused it, the pile stretched for nearly one kilometre along the Niagara Parkway shoreline on Lake Erie — tons and tons of ice, nearly seven metres tall in one or two places.
But warm temperatures have shrunk it dramatically, revealing several hundred metres of broken stone breakwall that will have to be repaired by Niagara Parks Commission.
“We’ve been photo-documenting it to have a record and assessing what the extent of the damage is,” said David Adames, NPC chief operating officer.
“We do have some capital dollars allocated already for repair to the breakwall and (paved) pathways. We’ll have to assess whether we need more.”
The amount budgeted is $150,000 — the typical amount set aside each year for repairs after waves punch holes in the heavy stone wall.
He couldn’t estimate how much this year’s work will cost, especially because some of the wall is still covered in ice. But it’s expected to be far higher than normal years, since a large portion of the wall was wiped out.
During the Feb. 24 storm, winds topping 100 km/h forced ice over the ice boom on Lake Erie. Combined with a fast current, the ice crashed against the shore and buried the breakwall.
As soon as the storm ended, the wall became an instant but temporary attraction for locals and some out-of-towners. It was the background for thousands of selfies.
At one point, the parks commission thought of demolishing the wall for safety reasons. Instead, it decided to “let Mother Nature take its course and let it melt.”
Provincial offences officers and electronic warning signs were posted near Mather Arch to keep people off the ice, and the parks commission erected interpretive storyboards with maps to explain to visitors the story behind the wall.
“It was very good seeing people going down to explore the south parkway,” said Adames. “I had personal calls, too, from people out of town, asking is it worth going down to see it? I said, absolutely.”
When repair crews move in they will examine ways to possibly reinforce the wall.
“I think there’s a way to put in more armour stone, that kind of thing,” said Adames. “But at the same time, we are dealing with nature there and both the Niagara River and the lake can have strong currents.
“So we have to be careful with how much work we can do on the water there.”
From the start, people were trying to guess how long it would take the ice wall to melt.
“I thought it would take much longer,” said Adames. “The first time I saw it, I thought for sure May.”