To view this site you need Adobe Flash Player and your browser must allow javaScripts. Go here to get the latest Flash Player. (It’s not made of ice, and it doesn’t make any noise.) Each winter since 1964, the ice boom, an 8,800 foot series of floating steel pontoons connected by a steel cable, is installed at the eastern end of Lake Erie. It spans from the outer breakwall at Buffalo Harbor almost to the Canadian shore. The boom, which is jointly owned by the New York Power Authority and Ontario Power Generation, prevents ice from Lake Erie from floating down the Niagara River and damaging shoreline property and power plants. The International Niagara Board of Control of the International Joint Commission oversees the Left: Sunset over the Lake Erie ice boom Ice boom annual installation, operation, removal, and maintenance of the boom. The installation of the boom begins on December 16, or when the lake temperature reaches 39 degrees Fahrenheit, and it is lifted each spring by April 1 , unless there is more than 250 square miles of ice remaining in the eastern end of Lake Erie. The removal of the boom is a harbinger of spring, and yet another excuse to raise a toast to the outgoing winter. page 41