The principle of a keeping a dock or marina clear of ice is to ensure that the natural crushing pressure of ice is not able to squeeze the structure. Ice is so powerful that it can literally lift lake bed pilings out of their footings and toss them about like sticks. I have seen large yachts tied up in large Eastern Seaboard marinas suffer thousands of dollars of damage due to ice. The sad part is that almost all cases of ice damage and dock damage are a result of negligence by the owner or sheer laziness; installing a homemade dock deicer or dock bubbler is not really difficult but the key is to start preparing components and supplies early enough in the season, October or November, to not get caught without a viable system when the cold snap first falls and often surprises!

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