University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
PH0607
Photographs of Work on Nome Harbor During Break-Up
Album
1921
28 photographic prints (1 folder)
Collection materials are in
English.
Photographs of
the spring ice breakup in the Nome, Alaska, harbor, 1921
These photographs were placed into a handmade album. The cover has come
off the album and the album pages have come apart.
In Alaska, the spring ice breakup is a noisy and
very important event that signals the beginning of the season of boat
transportation. Until the advent of airplanes, ships were the most efficient
mode of transportation to remote areas. Frozen harbors and river channels
hinder water transport in winter. In spring, ice is pushed downstream as a
river or stream thaws, sometimes breaking into flows that build on top of each
other. The resulting piles can cause great damage. This damage may be to the
natural environment such as the riverbanks or river bottoms. It can be so
severe as to change the course of the main channel or even the entire waterway.
Ice can also destroy any man-made objects in its way including piers, wharves,
or seawalls. If the ice is pushed onto land, it can also destroy any buildings
near it. By using explosives, channels can be "cut" in the ice to direct where
it goes as it flows downstream. Once the waterways have been cleared of ice,
boat transportation is again possible.
This collection contains photographs taken during the spring 1921
breakup of the ice in the Nome, Alaska harbor. The photographs show the process
of man-made channels being blasted in the ice, the thickness and extent of the
ice, the natural breakup of the ice, and the river as it is opened.
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These photographs were placed into a handmade album. The cover has come
off the album and the album pages have come apart.
Request at UW
Source: Edward Carpenter, March 6, 1966.
Processed by Glenda G. Wise and Jocelyn Spicer,
2002.
Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington)
Ice on rivers, lakes, etc.--Alaska--Nome--Photographs
Ice breaking operations--Alaska--Nome--Photographs
Jetties--Alaska--Nome--Photographs
Nome (Alaska)--Photographs
Nome River (Alaska)--Channelization--Photographs
Photograph albums
Alaska
Photographs
Environmental Conditions
Title Page
1
Photographs of
Work on Nome Harbor During Break-Up
Spring, 1921
Blasting Operations
1
1
Beginning
operations
1
2
Cut
uncovered
1
3-4
Ice after
blasting
1921
1
5
Thickness of ice
at head of cut
1921
1
6
Piling ice to
turn stream across bar
1
7
Ditch after
blasting
1921
1
8
Ditch near
outer end of jetty
1921
Thickness and Extent of the Ice
1
9
Height of ice at
end of jetty
1
10
Looking north
from end of jetty
1921
1
11
Width of ice
between cut and jetty
1
12
Height of ice
on revetment
Breakup: Ice Moving in Channels
1
13
Ice packing in
cut
1921
1
14
Keeping lower
end of cut cleared
1921
1
15
Water going
through cut over bar
1921
1
16
The two streams
at head of cut on outer bar
1921
1
17
Ice conditions
at outer end of channel
1
18
Channel after
ice was gone
1
19
Working ice off
bar at north end of jetty
1921
1
20
North end of
jetty during breakup
1
21
Ice jamming in
channel
1921
1
22
Channel
clearing
1921
1
23
Ice jammed at
end of bar
1
24
Blast in ice on
bar alongside jetty
1921
1
25
Blast in gravel
on bar alongside jetty
After the River has Opened
1
26
Looking north
from jetty after river has opened
1
27
Looking south
from range light after river has opened
1
28
Looking west
from jetty after river has opened
1921