Your car, your home, your choice. 3 - Heating oil is the main reason that the Coast Guard clears ice from northeastern waterways in the winter. Part 2 - Coast Guard captains say weather determines how the ice acts. Part 1 - Powerful engines and smart engineering help Coast Guard ships break up ice on waterways of the Northeast. Rough weather in the Northeast this winter is responsible for road closures and airline disruptions, and it has also iced the region's waterways.
Barges use the area's lakes and rivers to get goods to market.
The U.S. Coast Guard's ice-breaking fleet helps keep commerce moving. The Coast Guard calls ice-breaking its highest priority during the winter. The job also includes freeing barges, which may become trapped in the thick ice. The specially-equipped ships cut a path through the ice wide enough for barges to follow them into open water. The products delivered by barge range from grain and road salt, to home heating oil.