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NT's Deh Cho Bridge to open Nov. 30

Started by oscar, November 10, 2012, 10:21:58 AM

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oscar

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/story/2012/11/06/north-deh-cho-bridge.html

As the article notes, heavy trucks will be charged a toll (Powerpoint presentation -- tolls charged northbound only, starting at $75), but passenger vehicles will get to cross for free. 
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
http://www.alaskaroads.com/home.html


JREwing78

$150 for a typical semi-truck and trailer sounds astoundingly expensive (though it does cover both directions). Then again, that location has always been an unsafe bottleneck, and $150 isn't that significant compared to things like fuel and maintenance costs on a truck shipment to the NWT.

oscar

Quote from: JREwing78 on November 10, 2012, 11:27:18 AM
$150 for a typical semi-truck and trailer sounds astoundingly expensive (though it does cover both directions). Then again, that location has always been an unsafe bottleneck, and $150 isn't that significant compared to things like fuel and maintenance costs on a truck shipment to the NWT.

I wouldn't call it an "unsafe bottleneck" -- ferry crossings are pretty frequent, when the ferry is running, and my wait time was less than 15 minutes each way when I was up there this summer.  But for several weeks each spring, the winter ice road crossing disintegrates, and there's too much ice floating down the river to reopen the ferry.  The customers of truck carriers crossing the river (including the folks up in Yellowknife, the territorial capital and what passes for a big city up there) will no longer have to stock up ahead of spring break-up, or rely on air freight to get by while waiting for ferry service to resume. 
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
http://www.alaskaroads.com/home.html

ghYHZ


Quote from: oscar on November 10, 2012, 11:52:08 AM
Yellowknife, the territorial capital and what passes for a big city up there........................ 


Downtown Yellowknife:









And the existing Ferry:






1995hoo

Quote from: ghYHZ on November 10, 2012, 02:08:50 PM


I have no idea when that picture was taken, but it's funny, my father has a copy of the Canadian Book of the Road, which was published in 1979, and it has almost an identical picture of Yellowknife to that one. Guess it hasn't changed much in 30+ years! (While I have not looked at the book in a few years, I remember the picture because I always liked to look at the "Driving North" section and to imagine the idea of maybe someday exploring those places.)

"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

triplemultiplex

So are they going to charge that truck toll in the dead of winter when the ice roads are all in service?
That'd be a hell of a shunpike.
"That's just like... your opinion, man."

agentsteel53

I remember Yellowknife as being a singularly gray and depressing place.  unusual, as I found both the NWT wilderness, and the Deh Cho area which was busy with construction workers, to be quite full of life.
live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com

oscar

Quote from: triplemultiplex on November 12, 2012, 06:48:47 PM
So are they going to charge that truck toll in the dead of winter when the ice roads are all in service?
That'd be a hell of a shunpike.

There won't be a maintained ice road on or near NT 3 in the vicinity of the bridge, now that the bridge is opening.  Other ice roads will remain in NT, but none will get you to Yellowknife from south of the 60th parallel.  Ice river crossings, especially across a major river like the Mackenzie, need some maintenance (usually done by government road crews) to make sure they are thick and undamaged enough for safe travel.  They're not a do-it-yourself kind of thing.   
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
http://www.alaskaroads.com/home.html

kkt

I was in Yellowknife in June and it seemed like a pretty pleasant small city.  My first trip north of about 49 degrees 20 minutes latitude!  Glad we got to cross on the Merv Hardie before it retires.

agentsteel53

what will happen to the Merv Hardie?  I'd imagine it is fit enough to be sold to another ferry service, of which Canada has plenty. 

the ferry was manufactured in 1971, and when I rode it, it looked to be in excellent repair. 
live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com

oscar

#10
Quote from: agentsteel53 on November 14, 2012, 02:09:57 PM
what will happen to the Merv Hardie?  I'd imagine it is fit enough to be sold to another ferry service, of which Canada has plenty. 

the ferry was manufactured in 1971, and when I rode it, it looked to be in excellent repair. 

The Merv Hardie will reportedly be re-deployed to one of the NT 1 crossings near Fort Simpson, to provide supplemental service on that crossing and perhaps also be available as a backup for the ferry vessels serving NT's other three crossings on or near the Mackenzie River.  See http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/Local+Shows/North/Trail%27s+End/ID/2238163434/  I think Fort Simpson is where all NT ferry vessels spend the winter, so there is already a dock to park the Merv Hardie until it resumes service.

Ultimately, a smaller and/or older vessel serving one of the other crossings could be retired, and replaced by the Merv Hardie.  The much smaller Johnny Berens (serving the crossing between Fort Simpson and Wrigley) might be a logical candidate, especially as NT 1 is extended past Wrigley to Norman Wells and later Inuvik, which would increase traffic on the Johnny Berens crossing.
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
http://www.alaskaroads.com/home.html

Transportfan

 
Quote from: ghYHZ on November 10, 2012, 02:08:50 PM


I wonder why there are no cities (or even roads) like Yellowknife (or Whitehorse) in far northern Ontario, Quebec and Labrador? I thought it was because the presence of the Canadian Shield in those provinces made the land less accessible and useable, but as seen in these pics, the shield exists in NT as well. I didn't think it went that far west.





kkt

Quote from: Transportfan on November 15, 2012, 10:44:32 PM
I wonder why there are no cities (or even roads) like Yellowknife (or Whitehorse) in far northern Ontario, Quebec and Labrador? I thought it was because the presence of the Canadian Shield in those provinces made the land less accessible and useable, but as seen in these pics, the shield exists in NT as well. I didn't think it went that far west.

There's significant oil, natural gas, gold, and diamonds in the Northwest Territories.  Also, the western part of the Northwest Territories is not on the Canadian Shield.

Transportfan

Yellowknife is. You can see the two massive rocks in the pic.

kkt

Yes, Yellowknife is.  But as the territory capitol and transportation center, it benefits economically from resources west of the shield.

Stephane Dumas


dmuzika

Quote from: TransportfanI wonder why there are no cities (or even roads) like Yellowknife (or Whitehorse) in far northern Ontario, Quebec and Labrador? I thought it was because the presence of the Canadian Shield in those provinces made the land less accessible and useable, but as seen in these pics, the shield exists in NT as well. I didn't think it went that far west.

Yellowknife started as a gold mining town, but even today it only has 19,000 people and it's located on the western edge of the sheild.  You can see that the Canadian Sheild covers a vast area:



Ontario's portion of the sheild is more developed with places like Thunder Bay (108,000), Sudbury (160,000), North Bay (54,000), and Timmins (43,000), while Quebec has places like Sagunay (144,000).  At the end of the day, the sheild is unpopoulated for a reason - long, cold winters, short cool summers with lots of black flies and mosquitos, and land that can't accomidate agriculture.

Transportfan

I know there are cities in the shield in ON and QC, but these are actually not far north, as they'd be slightly in the States if moves further west in most cases. I meant there are no roads or cities at all in the far norths of these provinces. But kkt answered why YK and NT have them.

PS: The diagram is slightly wrong, as the shield doesn't touch Hudson Bay.

oscar

my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
http://www.alaskaroads.com/home.html

Stephane Dumas

One guy filmed the crossing of the Deh Cho bridge.

kkt

Quote from: Stephane Dumas on December 30, 2012, 10:10:51 AM
One guy filmed the crossing of the Deh Cho bridge.

Thanks for the link!  Looks pretty steep in the video going down, when it's snowy and icy.

vdeane

It must be interesting without the snow, to go from a dirt road, over an impressive bridge, then back to dirt road.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

oscar

#22
Quote from: deanej on December 31, 2012, 12:04:58 PM
It must be interesting without the snow, to go from a dirt road, over an impressive bridge, then back to dirt road.

No, with the opening of the bridge, NT 3 is now completely paved, from its south end at NT 1 to its north end at NT 4 in Yellowknife.   NT 1 is also paved east of NT 3 to the Alberta border, so you can reach Yellowknife from Edmonton, etc. on paved highways. 
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
http://www.alaskaroads.com/home.html

agentsteel53

the Yukon River crossing on the Dalton Highway is dirt on either side of an impressive wooden bridge.
live from sunny San Diego.

http://shields.aaroads.com

jake@aaroads.com

kkt

Quote from: deanej on December 31, 2012, 12:04:58 PM
It must be interesting without the snow, to go from a dirt road, over an impressive bridge, then back to dirt road.

I was there in June for the Transit of Venus.  The road is completely paved and better than lots of roads in the lower 48 states.  (Except it's pretty rutted on the Yellowknife Highway east of about Edzo and west of the airport.)



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