MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – An ice jam on the Winooski River raised flooding concerns in Montpelier on Monday. Large chunks of ice clogged up a section of the river, causing water levels to rise fast. But crews were able to get out of the jam.
Water levels rose near flood stage in Montpelier on Monday after temperatures soared and ice jammed.
“When you get an ice jam flood, the river level comes up very quickly because you’re basically restricting the water flow through, so you don’t have a lot of time to do preventive measures,” said Kurt Motyka, the director of Montpelier Public Works.
They happen when warm weather follows periods of cold and ice chunks pile up.
Officials say a spot at the Bailey Avenue Bridge along the Winooski River is prone to ice jams, and even caused significant flooding back in 1992.
On Monday, the gauge on the Winooski River reached over 9 feet, only 2 feet shy of flood stage.
“Luckily, we do have things set up. We have a contractor on standby to bring a long-reach excavator out in case we have to push the ice downstream, and we also have our ice melting system,” Motyka said.
The city of Montpelier got the flood prevention system back in 2007 which crews say is vital in times like this.
“We use the treated effluent from the wastewater plant. We pump it up along the bike path and we have discharge points that we use to melt the ice. The effluent is about 42 degrees, so after about an hour or two you can actually start cutting a channel through the ice and it allows a path for the water flow to get by,” Motyka explained.
The system uses effluent or treated sewer water, and city officials say it worked as intended. The jam was freed up just after 1 p.m. Monday. They say ice is free and moving smoothly, but the system will remain in place overnight should ice begin to accumulate again.