A sure sign spring is near: blasts were heard and felt around part of the Rideau River Saturday as Ottawa city crews blasted the ice near the Sussex Drive Bridge.
It is done each year to prevent nearly structures along the watershed from possible flooding.
“The reason why we do the flood control, there's 900 structures, close to 1,000 structures on the Rideau River watershed that have the potential of flooding every year,” said Jason Staniforth, area manager of core roads with the city.
The process has been going on since the late 1800s, said Staniforth.
“We live right near the river so we heard the booms and the kids are really excited so we always have to come down,” said Laura Barnett.
“I didn’t realize we’d feel the vibration, I had no idea that that was happening, it was kind of cool,” said one woman who watched the blasts.
Crews use explosives to send sheets of ice through the dam. It means the water is able to flow rather than rise.
“We thought it'd be a great day…show the kids something different that goes [on] around here,” said Christine Cheng.
