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TLICHO
When the hard work of NWT contractors and Department of Transportation maintenance crews results in the Tlicho winter road system, Garry Snyder is the man whose job it has been to pull it all together.

Garry Snyder, project officer for the Department of Transportation, is the man who brings the Tlicho winter road system to life each year. The map behind him shows the winter road route in the region. - Lyndsay Herman/NNSL photo

Snyder is a project officer for the Department of Transportation. Everything from equipment maintenance to road construction in the area falls under his domain.

"I'm fortunate," Snyder said. "Very few people have the opportunity to spend time on the winter roads and be paid to do it. In the winter I spend a substantial amount of time on the roads ... There is nothing like seeing the sun coming up when it's -30 C and the wind is calm."

Moose, wolf, and caribou sightings are a treat and an extra benefit of working far from the city, he said.

Snyder began working for the GNWT in 1996 and jumped at the opportunity approximately five years ago to get involved in working on NWT's winter road system from Behchoko to Whati, Gameti, Dettah, and the resupply route to Wekweeti.

Part of the work of a winter road project officer is staying up to date on new technologies that improve the safety and efficiency of winter road construction and maintenance, particularly as global warming changes ice characteristics in the North.

One of the tools the department now uses full time is ground penetration radar (GPR). It quickly determines the thickness of ice to an accuracy of one or two centimetres.

The unit, which is strapped to a sled and pulled behind a vehicle along the ice, reads radar pulses shot down from the ice surface twice every metre. It then transmits the data from the unit to a laptop within the vehicle. Snyder, or the person operating the unit, is instantly informed of the ice thickness.

The system not only allows for faster updates, but also helps to pinpoint potentially weak spots in the ice. A flooding crew is then dispatched to the area to flood, smooth and build up the ice, increasing its load capacity.

Before bringing the GPR into full-time use, the crew would have to drill and manually measure ice approximately every 50 metres, said Snyder. With the GPR, they only need to drill once or twice per lake to ensure the unit is calibrated properly.

Technological advances have also resulted in lighter and more efficient equipment. Snyder described a combination plow and water truck with a drag attached at the back used by a contractor that works on the road.

The truck is particularly useful in the creation and maintenance of portages, where land must be protected from the scarring of traffic by either 10 centimetres of snow pack or five centimetres of ice. The vehicle can remove snow, douse the area with water, and smooth out the track simultaneously. The already relatively light truck can be emptied of water and used as an even lighter snowplowing option on lakes.

The changing technology, Northern environment and an opportunity to make a difference to otherwise isolated Northern communities are among Snyder's favourite aspects of the job.

"It feels great to be part of a system that lets people get out of the communities in a cost-effective manner," he said. "If it wasn't for the winter roads, it would be difficult for communities to stay open and sufficient. Winter roads are expensive, but they do reduce the cost of living for communities."

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