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Mpls man measures ice thickness to keep public safe
A Minneapolis man is keeping the Twin Cities safe by measuring the ice thickness on the city's Chain of Lakes. FOX 9's Maury Glover has the story.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A Minneapolis man is on a mission to keep the Twin Cities safe on the ice.
Ice safety advocate
What we know:
Steven Glasford, who moved to Minneapolis from Boston, has embraced the city's outdoor lifestyle. "I moved here from Boston and I kind of fell in love with the city's park systems," said Glasford.
He enjoys biking on the ice, saying, "I love to bike on the ice, that's one of my favorite things to do is just to go biking on it."
Once a week, Glasford bikes across frozen lakes to measure ice thickness. "It's just easy, repetitive," he said.
Using an auger, he drills through the ice to check its thickness.
"Right here it's 23 inches thick. So that's about like this thick. So you could easily drive a car on here," he explained.
Growing community interest
The backstory:
Glasford began this project to ensure the ice was safe for his bike commute as a Metro Transit bus driver. "
"So I can get from here to the southern part of the lake In about five minutes, and it takes me 10 minutes otherwise," he said.
His efforts have expanded to include several lakes, and his findings on Reddit have garnered up to 50,000 views weekly.
"Everybody who lives on the shoreline, everybody lives in the neighborhood and wants to go onto the ice, wants to know, like, ‘Hey, like to know how thick it is,’" said Glasford.
He recently assisted organizers in confirming ice strength for a community event supporting Minnesota's immigrants.
No one on thin ice
What they're saying:
Glasford says he isn't worried about falling through the ice himself because the orange suit he wears doubles as a life vest, which helps him keep his head above water.
But it's his mission that keeps his spirits afloat, and he has no plans to ride off into the sunset just yet.
"It's kind of cool. Not many people get to be able to be like, ‘Hey, this is my job.’ I can go on ice whenever I want," said Glasford.
The full frozen lakes report can be found here.
The Source: This story uses information gathered by FOX 9 reporter Maury Glover.