This photograph shows the spring ice jam of 1955, which caused catastrophic damage along the Niagara River. The ice flow from Lake Erie came over the Falls and destroyed buildings along the river from Queenston to Old Town. The building shown here was the ticket office for the Canada Steamship Lines, where passengers could buy tickets to board the ships heading towards places like Toronto. It wasn’t until 1964 that a “boom” was placed in the upper part of the river, near Lake Erie, to limit the flow of ice. The ice boom is owned and operated by the New York Power Authority and Ontario Power Generation. It is made of pontoons that are anchored to the bottom of Lake Erie near Fort Erie/Buffalo. It is installed in December and is meant to control the flow of ice sheets that, when pushed by the wind, can create ice accumulation up to 12 feet thick. It is usually removed in the spring, but it depends on the amount of ice remaining in Lake Erie.