Ice Jams, Winter 1996-1997

Rivers, streams, and lakes in cold regions freeze during winter months. Ice jams may form during initial ice cover formation (freezeup jams) or when ice cover breaks up (breakup jams). Both freezeup and breakup jams cause backwater flooding and damage to low-lying areas and municipal structures. Cos...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Peterson, Erika K., Herrin, Lourie, White, Kate
Other Authors: COLD REGIONS RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING LAB HANOVER NH
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1998
Subjects:
Snow
Ice and Permafrost
Information Science
Hydrology
Limnology and Potamology
*DATA BASES
*ICE FORMATION
UNITED STATES
WATER FLOW
EMERGENCIES
ARMY RESEARCH
COMMUNITIES
DAMAGE
STRUCTURES
COLD REGIONS
WINTER
RESOURCES
ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
ROADS
RIVERS
FLOODS
FLOODING
CIVIL ENGINEERING
LAKES
BRIDGES
Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory
Ice
permafrost
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA407542
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA407542
Description
Summary:Rivers, streams, and lakes in cold regions freeze during winter months. Ice jams may form during initial ice cover formation (freezeup jams) or when ice cover breaks up (breakup jams). Both freezeup and breakup jams cause backwater flooding and damage to low-lying areas and municipal structures. Costly damages to riverine communities are a direct result of these ice jams, which often leave little time for engineers and state officials to prepare for flooding and evacuate the communities or structures to be affected by rapidly rising waters. Ice jams can cause an estimated $100 million in damages annually in the United States. Roads may be flooded and closed to traffic, or bridges weakened or destroyed, limiting emergency and medical relief to the affected areas. The potential exists for death or serious injury due to jam and flood conditions, or during evacuations. Engineers and state officials work together to prevent damages due to ice jams, and many are working to anticipate future measures required to prevent serious ice jams from forming. These efforts depend upon accurate and reliable ice jam data. The U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) Ice Jam Database is a compilation of freezeup and breakup ice jam events in the United States. Currently, there are more than 10,500 entries in the database, dating from 1780. CRREL's Ice Jam Database is a reliable resource used to research previous ice jams and to predict and assess conditions that may increase the probability of an ice jam formation. The original document contains color images.

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