Today - Tuesday, the City of Turku has started melting the ice in the vicinity of the Myllysilta bridge, one of the bridges crossing the River Aura.
The purpose of the measure is to minimise potential further damage that could be caused for example by the breaking up of the ice in the spring.
”The precaution of weakening the ice is worth taking in any case”, says Risto Lahtinen, an information officer at the Turku Municipal Property Corporation.
The ice sheet is being weakened from below by bringing warmer water close to the underside of the ice from the bottom of the River Aura.
The badly sagging bridge has been closed for more than a week, after it was noticed that it was out of alignment on Saturday ten days ago. It is feared it may still collapse, and even if it does not, it will have to be replaced in due course.
