2005 Ice Jam, Fort Fairfield, Maine.  Photo/David Deschesne

In what is being dubbed the “Worst Ice-Out in Fort Fairfield’s History,” the town of Fort Fairfield was very thankful for the recently-constructed dike.

“Main Street floods at three hundred sixty feet,” said Town Manager, Dan Foster. “Our highest water mark this season was three hundred sixty-five feet.” While the ‘94 flood peaked at three hundred sixty-eight feet and had thicker ice, it only lasted for ten hours. Without the dike in place, this ice-out would have flooded Main Street for six days. “It would have been incredibly disruptive to businesses,” said Foster.

“Between the Flood of ‘94 and the fall of 2000, when the dike was installed, we used an ice-breaker on the river,” said Community Development Director, Tony Levesque. “While some people said it wasn’t working, we didn’t get flooded in that time period so it looked like it worked.”

“The ice did get to within ten feet of the top of the dike,” said Levesque. “But there is no apparent damage. The rough rock placed at the base acted as an armor to protect the dike from the shearing ice.” The dike had previously never been tested until this 2005 season due to the moderate winters that were experienced during that time period.

High water levels and an unusually cold early winter contributed to very thick ice and high water volumes that caused the ice situation this year.

“Usually the ice melts away, breaks up into small pieces and flows down the river,” said Durepo. “It was different this year, the ice stayed thick and as it pushed its way down the river it broke the flat ice into large pieces - some weighing up to sixty tons.”

For six days, the ice would jam and let out, “Making for a very long day,” said Durepo, who was chasing flood zones from on area to another. “We closed the bridge three times for a couple of hours each, whenever the ice started hitting the undercarriage. The bridge is designed to take loads vertically - not horizontally.”

“At times, the water was rising and falling three to four feet within a couple of minutes,” said Durepo. “The first time Riverside Avenue flooded, we closed it, then it drained and we opened it. Within two minutes it was under three feet of water again.”

This, the second and most potentially devastating ice-out in the recorded history of Fort Fairfield, was finally averted by the dike that served its purpose well.