TUKTOYAKTUK - When the only thing between you and the volatile tides of the Arctic Ocean is a few decimetres of ice, you'd better hope the moon is on your side.

E. Gruben's Transport plow truck driver Edgar Kuptana, left, and ice road foreman Bob Stefure, right, were part of a crew beginning work on the 190 km ice road on Dec. 16. - photo courtesy of Doug Saunders

That hope is in the back of Bob Stefure's mind as he and his crew head out to construct this season's 190 km ice road from Tuktoyaktuk to Inuvik, knowing that a full moon falls on Dec. 21 - the first day of winter.

Stefure, a superintendent with E. Gruben's Transport, has had more than three decades of experience building and maintaining ice

roads, starting from the very first road the Tuk-based company worked on after taking over the contract 30 years ago.

If he's learned anything since then, it's that "you never know what might happen."

"The ocean is unpredictable," he said from his office in Tuk. "The ocean changes hourly sometimes, with the tides, the moon and the wind."

A 16-person crew from Tuk began plowing snow atop the sea ice Dec. 16, clearing the way 95 kilometres down to the Mackenzie River, where they'll meet with the crew from Inuvik's Northwind Industries, who started plowing the southern 95 kilometres along the river earlier last week.

In Aklavik, K&D Contracting works on a slightly shorter section of the river to connect that community with the rest of the Delta.

"If you can get to the river before the full moon, you're OK," Stefure said.

Before the Tuk crew can begin work, the ice must be at least 40 cm thick. It is measured using a profiler device that sends a sound wave through the ice that bounces back, displaying a fairly accurate reading of the thickness. But going out on the ice for the first time requires extreme caution.

"It's nerve-wracking for the profiler and for the boss," Stefure explained. "The safer, the better."

Layers of snow on sea ice can be "like concrete," he said, and so they have to be cut into rows and plowed in a specific pattern.

The crew works in split 12-hour shifts, 24-hours a day, until the work is done. After the road is completely plowed and the ice is a bit thicker, they'll follow with a grader to smooth the surface of the ice for easier driving - continuing to measure the ice all the while.

As much as they profile the ice during construction, however, conditions can change in a matter of minutes - as the crew learned last year, five days into plowing, when a truck broke through ice that had been measured at the appropriate thickness just 20 minutes earlier. But Stefure said the company makes safety a top priority and has not had any injuries or fatalities on the ice road in recent years. In fact, he said this year's ice might be the best he's ever seen.

"It's in good shape so I can't see anything being an issue short of the full moon coming and we've got west wind, which brings up high water which raises (debris) on the ice."

Although he knows the work he does is crucial to the lives of Delta residents - especially those in Tuk, who can benefit from lower food prices when the road is open - Stefure said he's been at it so long that he doesn't really think about those larger impacts of the ice road while he's on the job. But the consequences are tangible.

"I know it's really beneficial to the people. I live here too, so I buy a $9 tomato - if I can find one. But if I can go to Inuvik, I can buy a $5 tomato and I'm sure to find one," Stefure said.

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