BATH, Maine (NEWS CENTER Maine) -- The Coast Guard sent its cutters to the Kennebec River Wednesday morning. Crews hope to provide relief to areas seeing ice jams and flooding.
Two 65-foot vessels named "Tackle" and "Bridle" cut ice near Bath. Ice jams prevent heating fuel transportation and cause widespread flooding. The cutters were breaking through about 16 inches of solid ice. There was 2 or 3 inches of snow on top of the ice and another 6 to 8 inches of slush underneath. They only had about a 2-hour window to work on the river.
"There is a flood and an ebb,” said officer-in-charge Lia Chasteen. “We have to make sure we are breaking the tide on the ebb so the ice is getting flushed out the river and into the ocean."
Another 65-foot boat from South Portland is on its way to the area near Chops Point between Bath and Woolswich. A 140-foot Cutter called the "Penobscot Bay" on its way from the Hudson River.
The Coast Guard expects a few more days’ worth of cutting.