The New York State Park Police’s swift water rescue team assisted the New York Power Authority with removing a section of the Lake Erie ice boom from the rapids above Niagara Falls on Thursday.
Using a crane, the New York Power Authority lifted the 3,800-pound pontoon from the water near the pedestrian bridge at Goat Island. State Park Police officers entered the water and attached the pontoon to the crane’s lift cable. The pontoon was slowly lifted from the water.
Not only was this done in an effort to retrieve NYPA property, but it is also was done for public safety reasons. Due to its location, the pontoon was in danger of being dislodged with any increase in water flow or wind and potentially go over the Bridal Veil Falls, posing a danger to the Cave of the Winds attraction and any patron of it.