Alaska News

Temperatures near 40 below slow work on Dawson City ice road

The community of West Dawson in Canada's northwest Yukon territory is waiting and watching as crews work to complete the ice road that connects their homes to the rest of Dawson City during the winter.

Crews from the Yukon Department of Highways and Public Works are flooding the ice bridge across the Yukon River that replaces the summer ferry service to West Dawson and the Top of the World Highway.

A department spokesperson says the minus 40 temperatures are good for ice-making operations but hard on the crews. They need a minimum thickness of three quarters of a metre of ice before the road can be opened to traffic.

The Department of Highways and Public Works hopes to open the ice road by Sunday.

This story is posted on Alaska Dispatch as part of Eye on the Arctic, a collaborative partnership between public and private circumpolar media organizations.

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