Comment by patall

3 days ago

Ice roads would be one application. Once it freezes, usual ferry services can often no longer be upheld. Then, one has to wait until the ice is thick enough to drive a car over the ice. If there was an easily applicable material to drive on ice less than usual 15-20cm of ice, that would decrease that waiting time quite a bit (and make ice roads/bridges possible in locations that would previously be unsuitable). And since it is ice, you can grow it somewhere else and transport in place with a barge.

Another is underground tunnel building. In sandy places, there are cases where they freeze the ground when building a concrete structure. If that could be reinforced with stronger ice, it might make working easier.

Similar, you can use ice as an temporary scaffold when e.g building a spanning bridge in winter. Stronger ice => easier application of said scaffold.

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patall

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gcanyon  2 days ago

It always sounds/looks like a trap to me when I hear about/see people driving whole-ass cars over 15cm ~= half a foot of ice. That's just wrong, and I would barely consider walking on ice that thick (thin).

(I'm telling you I'm from southern California without telling you I'm from southern California)

  • srik  2 days ago

    I have similar prejudices until I was dragged to a Minnesotan winter activity where everyone drives into the middle of a frozen lake and park in a large circle while a bunch of drivers race their cars in circles in the middle. It was surreal.

  • quickthrowman  2 days ago

    It’s not safe to drive a car on 6 inches of ice. It’s enough for a snowmobile or single-person ATV. I wouldn’t drive a car onto a frozen lake without 12 inches of ice, 16 inches if it’s a typical half-ton pickup.

    I live in MN and have slept overnight on the ice (inside of a heated trailer) before.

    https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/safety/ice/thickness.html

    • patall  2 days ago

      Obviously depends on the weight / load per area. Here in Stockholm, our skating club starts organizing trips from 5 cm (=2inch), but black ice should hold you from 3.2 or so cm. And you can hear from the sound of the ice approximately which thickness you are on. But this is done with security equipment and in a group, so more general rules apply to anyone without experience and acting on their own. Ice is dangerous, like the outdoors is always dangerous when taken without necessary precaution.

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