History of the IAHR Ice Symposia

History of the IAHR Ice Symposia

Much of the information presented here has been garnered (almost verbatim) from the history provided by Guenther E. Frankenstein in the Proceedings of the 15th International Symposium on Ice, Gdansk, Poland, Vol. II (2000) pp. 41-56.

The Ice Committee or those interested in

ice problems originated with those who represented hydropower companies. They were responsible for emphasizing the problems associated with river ice and how it impacted on power production. It was through their efforts that the IAHR Council established a committee, or originally a work group, to join forces in solving these problems. At the Ice Section's first symposium it became obvious that there existed other groups that were experiencing ice problems. These included offshore oil, navigation, and flood control, etc. Our group became the world's number one association for the discussion of ice problems and research results. One cannot disagree with the above statement when a review is made of all of our conference proceedings, work group reports, and books. One cannot guess as to how many ice problems have been solved through the interaction of engineers and researchers during the IAHR Ice Symposia.

The relationship between the IAHR council and sections is not a strong one. The section's representative to the council is a council appointed division chairman who has no voting rights. This means then that the sections are background members of IAHR. The Kennedy report recommended that the division chairman be a voting member of the council, but this has never been adopted.

Confusion Concerning Numbering of the IAHR Ice Symposia
At the Second Symposium in Leningrad (1972) the members of the Section on Ice recommended that the third symposium be organized in Hanover, New Hampshire, USA, in 1975. The committee further recommended that the Section would take part in the Hungary meeting in 1974, with a limited agenda and not convene as an Ice Section Symposium. The delegates agreed to these recommendations. The council however approved the Hungarian request and forgot to inform the chairman of the Section on Ice. For this reason the 3rd IAHR Ice Symposium at Hanover, New Hampshire in 1975 was actually the 4th.

The Formative Years: 1959-1970

The Section for Ice Research and Engineering of IAHR was established in 1970. The Section on Ice Problems was established at the Montreal (8th) congress in 1959. This was the first IAHR Congress that included sessions on ice, these being focused on "Ice Problems on Hydraulic Structures." These sessions were comprised of 29 papers and were chaired by Mr. J.B. Bryce.

It was during these sessions, and because of considerable international interest in ice problems, that the council formed a "Subcommittee on Ice". The congress chairman, Mr. R. Dupuis, announced this and stated "it was a privilege granted to the few countries that have ice problems to be placed in the orbit of the association to benefit of their own research or of time". He wanted a committee formed that would meet frequently to discuss ice problems. He was appointed the first chairman of the Subcommittee on Ice by the council and planned to form a full committee as soon as possible. He recommended that the first item on the ice committee's agenda be the publication of a list of definitions and terminology for ice phenomena.

There was a lot of enthusiasm at the time of its formation but the subcommittee remained inactive. In 1961 Mr. Dupuis resigned as chairman but agreed to continue as a member of the committee. In 1962, Prof. A. T. Ippen, President of IAHR, nominated a new committee under the chairmanship of H.L. Rundgren of Sweden.

The first meeting of the new Section on Ice Problems was in September 1963 during the 10th Congress in London. The first item of business was to develop bylaws, which were completed and submitted to the IAHR Council for approval. The bylaws stated that the purpose of the section was to foster a bond between those concerned with ice phenomena in general and with ice problems in connection with hydraulic structures. This statement of purpose is still applicable today.

The Section on Ice Problems had no secretary, so the chairman proposed that Mr. F. Gerritsen, of the Netherlands, be elected to the committee and be the first secretary. The committee approved and Mr. F. Gerritsen accepted. Mr. H.L. Rundgren presented a classification at ice problems that was discussed by the members present. The members also provided information on ice research that was being conducted in their respective countries and agreed to develop a bibliography on ice. Lectures by members L. Lliboutry and O. Devik were presented to the Congress. The next meeting of the committee was at the IAHR Congress in Leningrad in 1965. The Leningrad Congress had sessions on ice problems with the theme of "Low Temperature Effects on the Flow in Rivers and Reservoirs Including Ice Problems". Fourteen individual papers were presented. In addition, each member of the Section on Ice Problems that attended discussed his country's ice research program.

The members agreed, as they did at their London meeting, that a bibliography be compiled and made available to those working in ice. Dr. Oudshoom, of the Netherlands, agreed to compile the bibliography from the lists furnished by the section committee members and then distribute it to those requesting the list. The classification of ice problems proposed and accepted at the London Congress would be the basis for the bibliography. The members present also generally agreed that travel costs made it more favorable to combine the ice seminars with each Congress.

The theme for the ice sessions at the 12th Congress, Fort Collins, Colorado, 1967, was "Ice Effects on the Flow in Rivers and Reservoirs Including Pressure on Structures". There were sixteen technical and five discussion papers presented. The Section on Ice Problems had a new chairman in Prof. B. Michel (elected at the Leningrad Congress, 1965) and a new secretary, Dr. H.N. Oudshoom.

A number of minor changes to the bylaws, relating to the election of new members, quorum, majority vote, and the conduct of business meetings, were presented and approved by the members present and the council. In addition, the chairman proposed that the section name be changed from "Section on Ice Problems" to "Ice Section". The council decided to keep the title as is, but agreed to add a French title, "Section des glaces".

The chairman proposed the creation of a subcommittee on "terminology and graphical representation for river and lake ice" to standardize them. He recommended that the terminology be established in three languages: English, French, and Russian. The committee accepted the proposal and Dr. H. Kivisild agreed to being the subcommittee chairman. This was the beginning of the working groups, as they are now titled.

The Section on Ice Problems had no scheduled seminar at the 13th Congress, Kyoto, Japan. However, it was at this Congress that the section chairman, Prof. B. Michel, made the announcement that the first IAHR Symposium on Ice would be held in Reykjavik, Iceland, 7- 10 September 1970. In addition to the announcement of the first "Ice Symposium," a general meeting was held with those members that attended the Congress. The first item discussed was the section's bibliography. There had been so few requests for copies that the committee had to decide if the service should be continued. This would be a priority item at the next section meeting.

The subcommittee on ice terminology had been active and would have a final report completed and ready for distribution at the Reykjavik Symposium. The subcommittee chairman, Dr. H. Kivisild, had contacted the World Meteorological Organization, which had compiled a nomenclature for sea ice. He decided that the best approach would be to use their nomenclature as a guide.

Reykjavik, Iceland (7-10 September 1970)
The 1st IAHR Symposium on Ice was held at Reykjavik, Iceland, 7-10 September 1970, with Mr. S. Freysteinsson as chairman of the organizing committee. The chairman of the Section on Ice Problems, Prof. B. Michel, was responsible for this event. He conceived of the idea to have separate symposia and contacted Mr. Freysteinsson requesting that Iceland be the first organizer of an ice symposium. He even had the IAHR Council contribute to publishing the proceedings. We all owe Prof. Michel a big thank you for this outstanding accomplishment.

The title of the first symposium was "Ice and its Action on Hydraulic Structures” which attracted engineers and scientists from Europe, Canada, Japan, USA, USSR, and from each of the Scandinavian countries. There were 61 technical and four summary papers presented.

Dr. Kivisild presented the first subcommittee report, "River and Lake Ice Terminology.” During the preparation of the report the committee found that the Office of Hydrology of the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) had done substantial studies on ice nomenclature. The committee reviewed the UNESCO report and decided to prepare a submission to them to be a representative ice terminology. The attendees were to review the list and recommend changes where needed. The final report would then be submitted to UNESCO. This first list of terms and definitions would be in English but would be translated into Russian and French by the next symposium.

This being the first of many IAHR ice symposia, the association agreed to publish the proceedings. The first volume contained the accepted abstracts; the second contained the reviewed papers, discussions, ice committee minutes, and general addresses. The papers were presented in English but four were published in French. The second chairman of our Section on Ice Problems, H.L. Rundgren, gave the banquet address. His address was both serious and humorous. He presented his now famous two laws of ice:
Ice Law 1: “Do not fight against the ice, avoid it”
Ice Law 2: “Do not fight against the ice, make use of it”

The secretary of the committee, Dr. Oudshoom, reported that there had been few requests for the bibliography. The chairman recommended, and the committee agreed, that further activities on the bibliography be suspended.

The committee recommended that the IAHR Ice Symposia should be held every two years. The next one would be held in Leningrad in September 1972. In closing, the chairman stated that Iceland, being half way between America and Europe and at the Arctic Circle, was the ideal location for the first Symposium on Ice.

Leningrad, USSR (26-29 September 1972)

The 2nd IAHR Ice Symposium was also titled "Ice and its Action on Hydraulic Structures.” The chairman of the organizing committee was M. F. Skladnev, who was President of the IAHR Soviet National Committee. Prof. Balanin was nominated to be the acting committee secretary because Mr. Oudshoom was not able to attend. A total of 170 people attended the symposium, with 60 coming from outside the USSR. There were 47 papers published in Volume I of the proceedings, while Volume II contained four plenary lectures, late papers, and discussions. B. Michel, A. Assur, T. Carstens, and K. Korzhavin presented these lectures. All the USSR papers and discussions were presented in Russian, but simultaneous translation was provided for those attending. The symposium program included tours of laboratories in the Leningrad area and a scientific tour to Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, and Bratsk to visit hydro projects and the Academic City. The latter tour was outstanding according to those who participated.

The committee of the Section on Ice Problems met on two occasions during the days of the symposium. They discussed the nominations of new committee members, the report on ice technology, and the location of the next ice symposium. The chairman proposed a list of individuals to be the future chairman and secretaries for the symposium sessions, which was adopted. The ice technology report had been translated into French and Russian but had not yet been published. The chairman recommended that the translations be published in Vol. II of the proceedings, but for some reason they were omitted.

The chairman stated that he had received three requests as to the location and date for the next ice symposium. The Hungarian National Committee was co-sponsoring a meeting in January 1974 with the Fluvial Hydraulics Section and the Section on Ice Problems of IAHR and the Section of Inland Navigation of the Permanent International Association of Navigation Congresses (PIANC). The other requests came from Hanover, New Hampshire, for either 1974 or 1975 and the University of Alaska for 1974. The chairman proposed that the third ice symposium be held in 1975 in the USA-to begin in Hanover, New Hampshire and finish in Fairbanks, Alaska. In addition, he proposed to take part in the Budapest, Hungary, Symposium and that the organizing committee limit it to the hydraulic and ice phenomena associated with navigation in both regulated and non-regulated rivers. This proposal was accepted. Soon after the Leningrad Symposium the University of Alaska decided not to sponsor the proposed 1975 meeting because of its commitment to host the POAC Conference. The chairman contacted the organizing committee in Hanover and requested that they sponsor a full ice symposium.

Budapest, Hungary (14-18 January 1974)

The IAHR Sections for Fluvial Hydraulics and for Ice Problems, in cooperation with the

Section for Inland Navigation of PIANC, sponsored the Symposium on Hydraulic Research on Rivers and Ice, with special regard to navigation. The symposium was held under the auspices of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the National Water Authority of Hungary.