Niagara Falls, N.Y. (WBEN) - It took just over 90 minutes for the removal of a 3,500-pound steel pontoon from the waters above the Bridal Veil Falls in Niagara Falls on Wednesday.
"It looked successful," said Angela Berti from the New York State Parks after the mission. "As long as our guys get back safe and no one was injured, it was successful. It was cool to see. It's always cool to see something like that."
The steel piece of the ice boom off Lake Erie was removed with the help of a Chinook helicopter out of Rochester that lifted the pontoon out of the water and off to a nearby parking lot on Goat Island.
After some inclement weather nixed the mission earlier Wednesday morning, the operation commenced shortly before 3 p.m. ET with the Chinook helicopter hovering overhead to clear the area around the pontoon of debris. The rotors of the helicopter created wind speeds of 70-80 miles-per-hour that was able to clear any loose branches and other hazards that could have made the mission cumbersome.
After the Parks Police Swiftwater Rescue Team made its way over to Bird Island, where the pontoon was located, the helicopter then returned to officially lift the ice boom chunk out of the water. The Chinook helicopter hovered over the water and lowered a pair of cables that the divers were able to hook on to the pontoon.
It has been more than three years since the steel pontoon broke off from the ice boom on Lake Erie and floated down the Niagara River. It ended up settling just off Bird Island, about 100 yards from the brink of Bridal Veil Falls, where the Cave of the Winds lies just below.
It is expected for the pontoon to be returned to the New York Power Authority, where they will store the pontoon until it is time for the ice boom to return to Lake Erie just before the winter months.
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