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Terry · 02-15-2010, 07:51 PM,

Hey Peeps!
I was reading everyones stories of ice cracking, while enjoying an ice cold Guiness, and thought I would check out what the military thinks about ice saftey, they (the US ARMY ERDC-CRREL Applied and Military Enginerring Branch) came up with this formula on ice saftey vs. thickness. The square root of the gross weight in tons times 4, equals the MINIMUM thickness in inches of ice needed to support said weight. I tried it with the weight of my 3/4 ton Silverado (5200 pounds last time I had her on the scale) and came up with just, 6.45",,, sounds lean. They must of known about the Guiness so they provoided a graph, that states a load of 40 tons (thats a fully loaded 18 wheeler) needs 26" of ice (what we have now on Minnetonka) with a distance between these loads of 211' with max speed of 15 MPH. Now I realize this is military equipment, so its almost free and they did say whenever your driving on the ice to wear a lifevest and keep your windows down, "for a more rapid escape",,,,,, :-\ I didnt have much concern leading a string of pickups out from Excelsior to north of Big Island on Minnetonka for Mike's ice class, (on 26" of solid ice) but I would of if I was driving a fully loaded tractor trailer.
I have felt ice cracking while standing on the surface, feels (I think) like a mini earthquake, kind of startling. The cracks are cool to see from the bottom side, some go all the way thru some dont. Some times you can hear them coming, above water, thats kind of freaky. One time with Pa we drove out on Crystal lake in Burnsville in a 72 Ford wagon in the spring when there was 5-6" of standing water on the ice, Pa flew right along and the water sprayed out 30' on each side. I remember he had said to keep the door open a little, I did think it seemed risky to do, to go after "maybe" a few sunfish. But as I look at the accomadation Pa was given for operating a 75mm howitzer on Iwo Jima, Saipan, Tinian and Yap, in the Marine Corps (that still hangs on my office wall) I remermber why I said nothing. Maybe, he knew the above formula and knew we were perfectly safe. I remember having a good time that day, didnt catch anything, but it was still a good time. Terry

NETim · 02-16-2010, 12:01 PM,

65th anniversary of the invasion of Iwo Jima is 3 days away. My avatar is a pic of Ira Hayes in '46.

Thanks guys!

popolarbear · 02-18-2010, 07:55 AM,

is this real or are you pulling our leg(fins)?

Browns bay to big island gets that pressure ridge in exactly the same spot every year. worst experience i had was driving out one early year, with crystal clear black ice. it seemed thick enough. as i drove out past the launch i was horrified to hear cracking all around my vehicle, and then i realized that the ice was sagging down all around my truck as i moved forward! i realized that i couldn't stop the truck, nor give gas, so i slowly turned into some poor(ahhh rich) persons yard and drove back along the shoreline! that was the last time i drove out for many years of walking out and draggin gear from shore....this fall i stocked up on a dozen tips ups that are still in the bag!!!not sure what that means.

ballfrog · 02-18-2010, 09:17 AM,

Quote:is this real or are you pulling our leg(fins)?

Of course he's pulling your leg. The lead lining is really just for bouyancy control.

popolarbear · 02-19-2010, 03:15 PM,

no seriously is it possible for concentrations of radioactive gasses to come thru cracks. perhaps no one has studied this, it seems reasonable. as the surface area of a lake is very large and what little gas comes up, might all come thru a very small crack, the equivalent of 100 years of natural gas movement in one days exposure.

ballfrog · 02-19-2010, 04:09 PM,

I'm really not sure what you're thinking about. Methane? Not radioactive. Radon? Your basement is probably more dangerous than any lake.

If there are radioactive gasses, then how about all that gas that would come up through fishing or spearing holes and be contained in the confined spaces of the fish house?

I suppose you could send it in to the mythbusters show, but they'd have to blow something up to be happy. Wink

popolarbear · 02-21-2010, 07:55 PM,

I think they should test the lake. and blowwing it up, would probably be a good thing too. help the economy at least.

Kirk · (This post was last modified: 02-21-2010, 08:58 PM by Kirk.)

I don't think Ira Hayes was in Spinal Tap.

NETim · 02-21-2010, 09:14 PM,

Nah, I don't believe he was either. My avatar changes now n' then.