b'DISASTER MANAGEMENTJames Dick Construction mobilized machinery to source and clear the primary location of the ice jamA massive ice jam on the Humber River caused extreme flooding and damage in Bolton last springparticularly impressed when the Beaver Creek Institution, a localThere was a quick warming when a big chunk of ice got jammed correctional facility, mobilized inmates to assist. The guys fromup in the Humber River, and the water started coming up very Beaver Creekwere probably the hardest workers. They saw thequickly, continues Sweetnam. It went over the banks of the river fight everybody was in and they were fantastic. at about 8:00 in the evening on a Friday night. I received a call from In May, Bracebridge Mayor Graydon Smith commended Fowlerthe Mayor, Allan Thompson, around 10:00, and he said, Were in a Construction at the 2019 edition of the Mayors Award of Excellencebad way. Can you get some iron down here right away? He didnt for its part in the flood control. Youre simply fantastic, he said,know anybody else to call.Fowler [was able to] open up what is a private business and turn itJames Dick Construction has been in business in the area for into this volunteer ground zero! about 55 years. We have machinery that operates in the wet all day, TEAM EFFORT every day, and we have people who are trained at digging in water, The town of Bolton lies on the Humber River in the Region ofSweetnam says. There is nobody better trained to handle this type Peel, northwest of Toronto. In mid-March, Bolton had the biggestof emergency than us.flood that has basically happened in the last 50 years, says GregAfter a quick call around to his employees, who quickly agreed Sweetnam, VP of James Dick Construction Ltd. to abandon their usual Friday-night activities, Sweetnam was able to mobilize machinery at the river by about 11:00 p.m. The river, which is normally about 30 feet wide, had expanded to cause the evacuationofabout80houses,anditwasragingthroughthe middle of town. There were geysers about four feet high coming CRUSHING, WASHING, out of storm sewers. There was an apartment where the water was SCREENING two inches away from going through the windows. It was up about five or six feet above normal.Arriving at the riverbank in pitch-blackness, it took the crews sometimetolocatetheprimarylocationoftheicejam.They worked through the night to clear massive ice chunks out of the water, but It was only after the fire department arrived Saturday at dawn with a surveying drone that they found the source of the problem tucked away behind an apartment building.1118 Brodie Drive, Severn, OntarioL3V 0V2 We would clear an area of ice, and the ice would roll down and fill| Fax: 705-326-0305 in the hole we had just cleared, Sweetnam says. We had one machine jstewart@jgstewart.ca |www.jgstewart.ca at the top of the jam and one at the bottom. We had two shifts: we arrived at about 11:00 p.m. on Friday and finished up on Sunday at 32 AVENUESFALL 2019'