Memory of the month the way things were. (Part Eighteen)

Continuing with our series featuring the memoirs of retired plantman William (Bill) Peters including photos from his own private collection.

Canada No 3

One morning on the way to work we passed a ramp into the cut and just before it there was a Terex TS14 motor scraper laying at the bottom of the 30 foot drop with all four wheels knocked off, the driver must have going at a fair speed as the whole of the scraper had cleared the edge and landed flat, had he been going slowly it would have nosedived and I doubt he would have lived to tell the tale, I guess he lost concentration for a moment. The first snow fell on the 12^th of September as things started to cool down and to get interesting we wondered how deep the snow would get.

After a few weeks the river started to ice over along the edges then it crept towards the middle, both sides eventually meeting.  The barge was able to push through it for a couple of weeks but it got too thick and by the beginning of November we were isolated, the only way in/out was by helicopter based on site for four weeks until the ice road was ready. Every day men would go out pumping water across the ice to thicken it until it reached forty inches thick, enough to take heavy loads, the first vehicle across was a 25 ton gas tanker.

The next one was a low loader with a large North West dragline on, they had taken off the jib and counter weights etc but even then with the low loader it must have been eighty or ninety tons.  I was detailed to go out with a Cat 988 to stand by to give him some help up the hills if required and I can tell you it concentrates your mind when you hear the ice cracking and see the cracks running with deep water below, the first time across I stood outside and steered just in case I needed to jump for it.

They say stay in the cab so we can find your body because if you get out the current will take you under the ice and down river, evidently a Cat D9 broke through the previous year but with no cab on it the operator popped up and luckily other people were handy with a pickup and got him back to camp very quickly, it only takes minutes to die of cold in those conditions when your wet.

One night we heard the chopper fire up which was unusual as it didn’t normally night fly so we guessed something had happened, in the morning we discovered one of the drillers had managed to run over his own leg so must have received a serious injury working on solid granite. Getting on the bus in the morning we used say to the Canadians when does it start getting cold, they would say you goddamn limeys are all the same wait until the second winter, unfortunately I didn’t get to do a second one.

In the morning arriving at the machine parking area there would frequently be broken D8 winch ropes lying about and I thought how the hell do they bust a 2¼ inch wire, this went on regularly until one night I was doing half a night shift and then it all fell into place. They were loading dumpers with a dragline and it was so soft that they had to pull them out with the D8 using the winch but with a straight pull, the sparks were flying off the rope but the operator didn’t have the gumption to ease off and re-position and try again, a simple snatch block would have saved them $240 dollars a rope plus down time of the trucks and dragline. 

Perhaps I should say that the best operators were on days because Manitoba Hydro inspectors were about so cock ups were best avoided, the less experienced operators were on nights. I had not taken any leave so far and it was coming up to Christmas and to my annoyance the site was closing down with only a skeleton crew to keep the camp going over the holiday, with the temperature during the day of around minus 30-40f and before any wind chill if the generators stopped for more than one hour the camp would have to be abandoned as everything would freeze solid. 

As I would not be paid over the holiday I decided to fly home for a short break as I had often worked a shift and half, I thought I had earned it and Angela was pleased to see me so we had a good Christmas and I arrived back on site on January 1st ready to crack on. The Co-Operator