Posted on 07/01/2007 3:11:31 PM PDT by NewLand
The History Channel embarks upon an unparalleled adventure revealing the virtually unknown occupation of ice road trucking, considered to be one of the world's most dangerous jobs. ICE ROAD TRUCKERS charts two months in the lives of six extraordinary men who haul vital supplies to diamond mines over frozen lakes that double as roads. The livelihood of many depends on these tenuous roads, which through the years have been responsible for the deaths of dozens of men.
Always prepared for the ice to give way under the weight of their trucks, these drivers put their lives and financial security of their families on the line in an exhilarating dash for cash. Beginning Sunday, June 17 at 10pm ET/PT, this adrenaline packed series reveals the raw, gripping quest of ice road truckers.
The desolate white landscape stretches as far as the eye can see in a world where the land meets the sky at an invisible horizon, just miles from the Arctic Circle. The fascinating, yet little-known ice road trucking industry, stationed just outside of Yellowknife in Canada's Northwest Territory, is responsible for supporting the diamond mines there. Canada now stands as the third largest diamond producer in the world, housing an industry that rakes in $1.9 billion a year.
Each year, the many lakes of this region completely freeze over and engineers build an ice road over them that can withstand the weight of tractor trailers, hopefully. Jackknifing, breakdowns and accidents are commonplace. Last year, because of the effects of global warming, the ice road was closed early, leaving hundreds of tons of supplies stuck at the dispatch station. Since the terrain in this region is virtually impenetrable, and there are so few paved roads, the only way for supplies to reach the mines is by traveling over the ice road. The entire industry depends on the weather and the courage of the ice road truckers, who are willing to push themselves to the limit and who constantly hear the cracking of the ice right beneath their wheels.
The driving wouldn’t be so bad. It’s th risk of dropping into pertty deep water that’s the problem. They talked about one driver whose rig dropped through the ice. They found his body 300 ft. away from his truck: He was able to swim out of his truck, but at night, he couldn’t see the hole in the ice above him.
Of course, if he’d made it up through the opening in the ice, he’d have frozen to death unless some other driver came along at just the right moment.
Headed for the DeBeers mine this year. This is DeBeers first mine outside of South Africa. DeBeers controls the diamond market and I’m surprised they weren’t prevelant here.
Answer is...
I saw the first episode where the truck had some sort of engine trouble and the driver had to nurse it along. If the engine died, the driver would freeze to death and if he just idled the engine to keep warm till help arrived, the vibration would cause the ice underneath to give way and that would have been it. I’m a very good driver, but know nothing about engines.
I use to work on the survey crews that went out on snow machines and track rigs to build these ice roads. Fun memories but I’m not going back. Your right its a great show.
In the second episode they explained a lot about the amount of weight that can be on the frozen lakes at any given time, also about speed's effect, and how slow they actually had to drive when over ice.
Incredible!
I missed the entire first season. I’m going to get this season on CD when all the episodes come out. I’m not sure I’ll get season 1.
Oh Jeeez!
That and Helen Thomas’s man friday
I imagine one day they will use drones or some other remote vehicle for this work. Crazy!
Isn’t this the first season? Looks like that on the website.
Thanks for the heads up! I'm going to watch "The Enemy Within" at 6:00 and then I'll watch "Ice Road Truckers" at 10:00 tonight.
Isn’t this the first season? Looks like that on the website.
Im gonna check that out. I’ll get back to you.
Not sure drones will do this,you have a lot of decisions to make that require some old fashioned courage.
But, anything's possible!
Have you seen the show?
Thanks for posting. It’s an awesome show.
Hit close to 100 here today, what a great antidote!
Nothing shows that the early breakup was due to “Global Warming”; this is hardly the first (2006) that they got caught with their pants down.
I’ve watched every episode and some of these guys are dumber than rocks; only three belong behind the wheel.
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