Tuesday, February 24th, 2015
Pressure causes large ice crack on Grand Lake
By Shelley Grieshop
Photo by Shelley Grieshop/The Daily Standard
A pressure ridge shown along Lake Shore Drive in Celina extends nearly across Grand Lake. The formation occurred as the thick ice expanded and contracted due to fluctuating temperatures in recent weeks.
A large ice crack stretching nearly across Grand Lake is picturesque, sometimes noisy and extremely dangerous.
The pressure ridge, as it is called, spans from Lake Shore Drive in Celina to about the Villa Nova area in St. Marys. Such phenomena occur as thick ice expands and contracts with fluctuating temperature, causing a buckle when the ice can't contract as a whole.
"It's been awhile since we've had the ice this thick," Grand Lake St. Marys State Park Manager Brian Miller said this morning.
Ice in many areas of the lake is a foot or more thick, he said.
At times, a loud popping noise can be heard as the ice cracks, collides and overlaps other chunks at pressure points, he said.
Pressure ridges are usually either overlapped or folded or a mix of both and typically span from shore to shore. Folded ridges are harder to spot and are responsible for more tragedies on waterways in the winter. The ridge on Grand Lake is mostly overlapped with large pieces of ice exposed along the break.
As the ice expands, it can push up onto the shoreline and cause damage to property, Miller said. No property damage has been reported to his office this winter but he's investigated incidents in the past, he said.
A sea wall frame - part of construction work on the new walkway along West Bank Road near the spillway - is mangled due to recent ice expansion.
"It's incredible what the pressure of ice can do," Miller said.
One of the biggest dangers of pressure ridges is the open water they create, he said. The public doesn't realize it's not a solid mass until it's too late, he added.
"We had that issue at Lake Loramie this weekend," he said.
Two people escaped injury and possible drowning Sunday night when the QuadRunner - a four-wheel vehicle - they were riding fell into open water along a pressure ridge in the lake, he said.
"They weren't far off shore, as I understand. Later they recovered the QuadRunner themselves," Miller said.
He reminded the public Grand Lake is never completely frozen, adding open water areas can exist regardless of the water's depth.
Photo by Shelley Grieshop/The Daily Standard
This photo shows damage from the ice as it pushed against seawall forms near the spillway along West Bank Road.
