Ice Strength
Do you know how much 40 centimeters of sea ice can safely support?
The following table of ice thickness versus ice strength, provided by the National Research Council of Canada and
developed by E.R. Pounder, gives you the safe load for a given ice thickness of:
- fresh water ice (lake and river ice) and
- sea ice (St. Lawrence River, Gulf of St. Lawrence, and East Newfoundland Waters)
Since ice strength is related to temperature, the following table aplies to ice that is cold. Ice that is near 0ºC is weak and will not be able to support the same weight as colder ice - regardless of the ice thickness. If the snow is beginning to melt, then the ice is losing its strength.
| SAFE LOAD |
OPERATION |
FRESH ICE |
SEA ICE |
| One person |
at rest |
8 cm |
13 cm |
| 0.4 ton |
moving slowly |
10 cm |
18 cm |
| 2 ton vehicle |
moving slowly |
25 cm * |
40 cm * |
| 10 ton tracked vehicle |
moving slowly |
43 cm |
66 cm |
| 13 ton aircraft |
parked |
61 cm |
102 cm |
| * estimated numbers, not provided in original table |
Source E.R. Pounder
