All photos supplied by Province of B.C./Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.
Clearing the cables:
Alex Fraser Bridge receives cable-collar upgrade to prevent ice bombs By Bailey Hildebrand-Russell Winter 2016 in Metro Vancouver brought weather conditions, including temperature cycling and wind, that impacted the area’s cable-stayed bridges like never before. On the Alex Fraser Bridge, snow and ice fell off the
stay cables, raining down on vehicles travelling across the Fraser River. What came to be known as ice bombs to both the public and the media led to closures on the bridge. It was the first time the bridge was closed due to falling snow and ice since construction was finished 30 years prior, according to the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. The temporary closures were in place on Dec. 10 and 12, 2016, and again on Feb. 5, 2017, according to the ministry.
All photos supplied by Province of B.C./ Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. SNOW MANAGER | www.snowmanager.ca
While the ice bombs are a rare occurrence, happening with the right combination of warming and freezing with wind at the right speed and angle, the B.C. government is implementing a preventative measure. In late January and early February 2017, the ministry began testing a cable-collar drop system, similar to the one already in place on the Port Mann Bridge, which
also crosses the Fraser River. The configuration of the cables differed between the two bridges, meaning that the drop system may not have worked as well on the Alex Fraser – the Alex Fraser’s cables run parallel to traffic and not over them like on the Port Mann, according to a Jan. 27, 2017 news release from the ministry. The cables are also smaller in diameter and are configured at different angles. The collars around each cable are manually released, brushing snow and ice off the cables, preventing large chunks from falling onto vehicles below. “There are 192 cables on the bridge and each cable will have one stopper, one anchor and 10 collars,” a ministry spokesperson said in an email. “The stoppers at the bottom of each cable are quite a bit larger and more 17
