Niagara Falls, N.Y. (WBEN) - Day 1 of operations to remove a large steel pontoon from the Niagara River is complete, as crews prepared for the extraction of the 30-foot piece of ice boom on Tuesday, just about 100 yards from the brink of Bridal Veil Falls.
"What we're working on today is the Park Police Niagara Swiftwater Rescue Team. They established a highline this morning from Luna Island to Bird Island, that's the island where the pontoon is tied off to right now," said New York State Parks Police Cpt. Chris Rola during Tuesday morning's briefing atop Goat Island. "They're sending a few extra guys over to set up a couple of safety rigging things, and then they're going to go out and check the ice boom to make sure that the two hooks on the top of it are structurally good to go [Wednesday] for the Chinook helicopter to pick that up. They're also going to inspect our line, it was the anchor line that's been holding it since 2019. That'll need to get removed [Wednesday] morning, so they're just going to make sure there's no issues with the removal of that, and then they'll come back."
Crews only needed a few hours to make their final preparations for the removal of the ice boom, as they prepared the steel pontoon for it to be lifted out of the waters with the help of a Chinook helicopter.
The original plan was for the removal of the pontoon to take place in late March, but complications with the remaining ice in the Niagara River scrapped those plans. Now with weather conditions being favorable to finally complete the operation, all systems appear to be a go.
"I'm never going to say it's easy. The eight men and women of the Park Police Swiftwater Team, I think, are the best of the best. They make it look easy, but it's not easy," Cpt. Rola said. "NYPA [New York Power Authority] is a great partner. They lower the water for us, so that our guys can make it out there and get to that. I'm not going to say that it's easy, but it's the best-case scenario you can get. But when you're working 100 yards away from the brink of the falls, I don't ever think it's easy."
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It was back in February of 2019 when the large 30-foot section of ice boom - about a 3,500-pound steel cylinder - broke free at some point at the end of winter. The large section then floated down the Niagara River, made its way through the American Rapids and ended up by the Bridal Veil Falls.
At that point, the chunk of ice boom was secured by the Swiftwater Rescue Team to one of the trees on Bird Island with a 40,000-pound tow rope, so it wouldn't pose a danger to anyone sitting below the falls, especially with the Cave of the Winds being at the base.
However, cases like this where a steel pontoon section of the ice boom goes over the Falls.
"They go over, I'm not going to say quite a bit, but we all know the weather out here and the wind, and the ice is tough. It knocks sections like this off, but most of them, the path that it went doesn't make it down Bridal Veil Falls. Either they go over the American Falls or the Horseshoe Falls," Cpt. Rola explained. "So this one, where it got caught up, it's a tough spot. There's a chance that with the Cave of the Winds underneath, there's a concern for the safety of the public. So that's why we've got to get it out of there and make sure it's safe for everyone."
As for Wednesday's operation, Cpt. Rola says it will be a tough operation, but nothing that is too far-fetched for the crews hoping to remove the pontoon from the rapids above Niagara Falls.
"[The Swiftwater Tem will] make their way out there, we'll have our lines established. It'll be a little bit quicker in the morning, but they're still going to need to get underneath that pontoon with the Chinook helicopter flying overhead of them with wind speeds under there, I'm told, is about 80 miles-an-hour," Cpt. Rola said. "So to be in the American Rapids, hooking up two points of contact on an ice boom that weighs 3,500 pounds under a Chinook helicopter I think is pretty tough, but they're up to the game."
It is expected for the Chinook helicopter to take off from Rochester at around 9 a.m. ET, and arrive in Niagara Falls about 9:30 a.m. ET to do a hover over the site, in order to knock some of the debris down around the pontoon. After that, the Chinook helicopter crew will meet up with the Swiftwater Rescue Team for a safety briefing, and then they'll likely carry out the extraction operation some time in the late morning or early afternoon hours.
Hear more from Cpt. Rola on the extraction plans in the player below: