NT's Deh Cho Bridge to open Nov. 30

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

Previous topic - Next topic

ghYHZ

#25
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.

It's been paved for awhile now.

I drove to Yellowknife back in 2003 and only the last few KM's into town were under construction and remaining to be paved.







Bridge at Edzo in Sept 2003.




oscar

Quote from: oscar on November 14, 2012, 02:32:56 PM
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.

Update:  The Merv Hardie is now drydocked on the south shore of the Mackenzie River, next to the new bridge, and where the old ferry landing was. You can see it from the bridge and its approaches. According to a news report, the plan is to keep the vessel there as an emergency replacement for the bridge or one of the other Mackenzie River ferries, and perhaps ultimately to replace one of those other ferries. 

The vessel apparently was built in Edmonton and sailed downriver from there to the Mackenzie River. It may be unable to cross ocean waters (especially the Arctic where the Mackenzie ends), so any alternate use of the Merv Hardie (other than as scrap or spare parts) may be limited to that river and others flowing into it.

I'll post later (not today), in a new thread, photos and other stuff from my visit to the Deh Cho Bridge earlier today.
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
http://www.alaskaroads.com/home.html

Duke87

Quote from: oscar on July 09, 2015, 10:04:50 PM
The vessel apparently was built in Edmonton and sailed downriver from there to the Mackenzie River. It may be unable to cross ocean waters (especially the Arctic where the Mackenzie ends), so any alternate use of the Merv Hardie (other than as scrap or spare parts) may be limited to that river and others flowing into it.

Ehm... Edmonton is on the Saskatchewan river system, which flows into Lake Winnipeg and subsequently into Hudson Bay. How would it get from there to the Mackenzie River without going through the arctic ocean?
If you always take the same road, you will never see anything new.

oscar

Quote from: Duke87 on July 21, 2015, 12:05:21 AM
Quote from: oscar on July 09, 2015, 10:04:50 PM
The vessel apparently was built in Edmonton and sailed downriver from there to the Mackenzie River. It may be unable to cross ocean waters (especially the Arctic where the Mackenzie ends), so any alternate use of the Merv Hardie (other than as scrap or spare parts) may be limited to that river and others flowing into it.

Ehm... Edmonton is on the Saskatchewan river system, which flows into Lake Winnipeg and subsequently into Hudson Bay. How would it get from there to the Mackenzie River without going through the arctic ocean?

Yeah, and also there are some major (though portage-able) rapids on the main river flowing into the Mackenzie River drainage basin from northern Alberta. So that's a puzzle I'll try to check out later, perhaps with the NWT territorial transportation department.

That issue also applies to a mosque in Inuvik on the Mackenzie River -- AFAIK northernmost in North America, and only one on that continent north of the Arctic Circle -- reportedly built in Manitoba and floated up to Inuvik.
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
http://www.alaskaroads.com/home.html

kkt

Perhaps it's small enough that it went by rail to the Great Slave Lake and then lived on the Mackenzie since then?

oscar

Quote from: kkt on July 21, 2015, 11:03:27 AM
Perhaps it's small enough that it went by rail to the Great Slave Lake and then lived on the Mackenzie since then?

I think it's a little big to go by rail in one piece. I don't remember if the crossings on the line to Hay River NT have enough horizontal clearance, including the rail connections to that line from Edmonton. But maybe it was partially disassembled, then reassembled in Hay River.
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
http://www.alaskaroads.com/home.html



Opinions expressed here on belong solely to the poster and do not represent or reflect the opinions or beliefs of AARoads, its creators and/or associates.