Getting To The Ice Road On Time!
Norman Wells Daycare is located on Arctic Circle Road in Fort Good Hope, North West Territories (way up north!). In February they received funding to buy some playground equipment and chose to purchase through our ‘local’ representative, Lucy Skuba of Play Systems North. Lucy quickly learned that this project would have tight time constraints on delivery because the only cost effective way to ship to this location is by truck on the frozen Ice Road that sometimes shuts down for the year as early as March 15th.
The Ice Road, as the name suggests, is made entirely of ice; it’s the only land route that connects remote northern communities in the winter months. As soon as it’s cold enough, trucks apply water over the muskeg until the surface ice is about six inches thick. The road is then staked to guide drivers on their way north. From mid-December to mid-March, the ice road winds through forests, and over frozen rivers and marshes.
Certain products weren’t immediately available, but PlayPower Canada’s scheduling and production team understood the situation and were able to work around the short notice and Ice Road deadline. The team managed to adjust schedules and ship the complete order on Friday, February 27th!
The equipment took the arduous journey over the Ice Road and arrived safely at our customer’s location. Lucy reported; “Our customer is thrilled!”