|
>Home
>>Tips 'n Tales >>Time Traveling,
February 2006 |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The boat crossing at Seymour Narrows has always
been a challenging passage. However, not too
long ago, the word “challenging” would have been
an understatement. While today’s boaters merely
have to deal with “treacherous currents,
swirling eddies, and turbulent tide-rips”, until
1958, boaters had to deal with “Old Rip”. Ripple
Rock was a set of peaks rising from the Pacific
Ocean’s floor, lurking just under the surface at
low tide. From 1875 to 1958, the rock ate into
the hulls of unwary ships, sinking 119 of them,
and claiming 114 lives. It was known at the time
to be one of the most dangerous navigational
hazards in North America. Finally, in 1958, it
was
decided to put an end to this
threat.
After years of protest from
settlers and sailors traveling the new territory
of British Columbia, the Canadian government
decided in 1931 to lower, by any means possible,
the twin peaks of Ripple Rock to a point where
any boat could travel over it unimpeded. |
|
|
|
While others opposed this, wanting a railway
bridge to be built from the mainland using the
rock, it was eventually decided that that Ripple
Rock had to be removed. |
|
|
|
The initial attempts in the 1940’s
got off to a rocky start. Barges carrying a
drilling rig and explosives were floated over
the rock and secured with several anchors. The
rock had other ideas. Before drilling could
commence, the strong tidal currents snapped the
first anchor cable in less than 24 hours. The
rest of the cables soon followed, about one
every 48 hours. A couple of years later,
another barge was floated in and secured to the
shores with overhead cables. Unfortunately, the
tidal currents soon twisted the barge away from
these cables, and the plan had to be discarded. |
|
|
|
Finally, in 1953, the federal
Department of Public Works decided on a plan to
tunnel under Seymour Narrows and up into the
peaks through nearby Maude Island. The project
was described at the time as “the world’s
largest root canal”. Once work began in 1955, a
team of 75 engineers slowly bore their way under
the ocean and up through Ripple Rock. 27 months
later, they were ready to go. |
|
|
|
Packing 1375 tons of explosives
into the rock, the engineers picked April 5,
1958 as the date for detonation. Everyone within
a 3 mile radius of the blast was evacuated for
safety, and the area was checked to make sure
few salmon were in the area. Finally, the
plunger was pushed, setting off the largest
peacetime non-nuclear explosion ever [CBC
Archives]. The 700,000 tons of
rock and other debris was thrown 1000 feet into
the air. The explosion also caused a 25 foot
tidal wave, which luckily caused no damage.
The neutralization of Ripple Rock
was achieved. Instead of being 9 feet under the
surface at low tide, the rock now was 47 feet
under the ocean. Ships could pass in safety.
There were no documented cases of any dead
salmon or herring due to the explosion. The
anticipated earthquake never occurred. Many
close to the area never heard or saw a thing.
However, the Ripple Rock explosion was seen
throughout the country live on CBC Television,
marking the one of the first live coast to
coast television
coverage of an event in Canada [CBC Archives].
Ripple Rock has passed into legend, with many
boaters only learning of it through historical
markers placed on the site. However, once they
pass through the challenging tides and eddies of
Seymour Narrows, most sailors are glad that “Old
Rip” has been narrowed down to size and now only
lives as footage at the Campbell River Museum. |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
