Site: BAR-2

 


DEWLINE HISTORICAL DESCRIPTION
Topography

  • BAR-2 at SHINGLE POINT, Canada, is situated on 2682 acres of coastal plain terrain that lies between two rivers at an altitude of 150 feet above sea level. The plain gently slopes toward the sea where it terminates in an approximate 100 foot bluff. The site is located immediately west of the Blow River in an area that is characterized by the western limits of the Mackenzie River Delta, along a remarkably straight section of the coast. Small steep walled draws (penetrating no more than 2 miles inland) occur along the coast at frequent intervals. The entire area supports occasional small shrubs and a light covering of grass and moss. There are thick growths of willow in the large delta area at the mouth of the Blow. The foothills of the Richardson Range begin approximately 25 miles inland from the station.

Climate

  • Annual precipitation including snowfall is approximately 8 inches, being heaviest in July and August and lightest in March. Snowfall is greatest in October and November and averages about 30 inches a year which accounts for about 55 % of the precipitation. Absolute minimum and maximum temperatures are minus 61 and plus 88 degrees Fahrenheit respectively.

Water

  • A 3 mile round trip potable water haul is maintained winter and summer.

Site Building Layout Diagram.

PHOTOS

Road from airstrip to site. Indigenous personnel housing in foreground to the right. Courtesy Ralph Howell.

Radar down for maintenance, July 1971. Courtesy Ralph Howell.

Construction Era Photos for BAR-2.
The pictures below were selected from the extensive collection of Markham Cheever, the DEWLine’s Superintendent of Construction from 1953 to 1957, before the Line went operational. (Click on picture to enlarge.)

The People.
The people in the photos below, also from the Markham Cheever collection, are displayed in the hopes that someone may recognize a father, grandfather, or friend who was involved in the construction of this particular DEWLine site. (Click on picture to enlarge.)