Ice loading on the Nanisivik wharf over three winters; 2018-2021

• Main Authors: Brown, Jeffrey, Frederking, Robert, Poirier, Louis
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: IAHR 2022
• Subjects: sea ice; ice-structure interaction; Arctic; Nanisivik; Strathcona; Strathcona Sound; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/eng/view/object/?id=90e91054-9e2d-4635-8192-5c268287af75; https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/fra/voir/objet/?id=90e91054-9e2d-4635-8192-5c268287af75

Nanisivik, on Strathcona Sound, was the site of the first deep-water wharf in the Canadian Arctic, coming into operation in 1976. Initial ice investigations were carried out with the instrumentation of the time, providing a good description of ice-structure interaction processes, but less successfully measuring ice loading. In 2017 it was possible to return to the site and install an ice pressure measuring instrumentation system. The system consisted of two ice load panels and a video camera. It successfully ran from September 2017 until January 2021, with 3 full winters of data collected. The system also collected data on air temperature, sea water temperature and tide. Tide and air temperature were the two environmental factors having the strongest relation to ice loading. Local pressures as high as 2.76 MPa on one 0.135 m² zone were measured, although peak pressures on a single zone normally were less than 1 MPa and were not correlated with high pressures in adjacent zones. Local pressure peaks were characterized as being short-term with durations of a few minutes or occasionally a few hours. Ice loading was very intermittent and for short periods. Over the period from January through April maximum force on a 0.135 m² area was 165 kN, 372 kN and 150 kN for the winters of 2018, 2019 and 2020, respectively. Peer reviewed: Yes NRC publication: Yes