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IKALUKTUTIAK/CAMBRIDGE BAY
The Cambridge Bay Cat Train may not be as well known as the NWT winter road of television show Ice Road Truckers fame, but exploration and mine site expediting company Kitnuna Projects Inc., has been building and operating the Cat Train each winter for more than 10 years, opening up the hamlet's backyard across the Northwest Passage.

The Cambridge Bay Cat Train carries freight along the 153 km ice road to the Hope Bay project mine site earlier this year. - photo courtesy of Kitnuna Projects Inc.

This year, the 153-km ice road was used to transport cranes, drills and other equipment and supplies purchased from the Hope Bay project mine site by companies in and around Cambridge Bay, after international gold producer Newmont Mining Corp., put the $2-billion-dollar Kitikmeot Region mining project into care and maintenance in February.

In total, Kitnuna moved 870,000 pounds of equipment and supplies by Cat Train, after opening the ice road for transport on April 4.

The road season wrapped up on May 3.

"Kitnuna does this pretty much every year," said site supervisor George Rankin, who has worked for the company for nine years. "People around Cambridge Bay know this usually happens, but residents of the rest of Nunavut may not know, residents of the NWT may not know."

The ice road, built for the heavy equipment Cat Train, is profiled often for thickness, like the Tibbitt-to-Contwoyto winter road to the NWT's diamond mines, and reaches thickness of 72 inches, compared to the maximum thickness of the NWT winter road, which is 41 inches.

A number of conditions are taken into consideration when hauling loads over the ice, Rankin said, including the weight of the loads, weather conditions, air temperature, snow cover, pressure ridges and rubble or chunky ice.

"It's always very exciting because the ice is always a little different," he said, adding cracks, or open pressure ridges on the roadway are "always dangerous to cross."

The operators approach the ridges carefully, finding a spot that's safest to go across, Rankin said.

About 16 people work on the Cat Train operation, including site supervisors, mechanics and cooks.

Locals are often invited to work on the Cat Train and often use the roadway to find optimal caribou hunting land, Rankin said.

The winter ice road season is now over, and by mid-July, the ice will be fully melted. Next year, Kitnuna will build the road again.

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