Barges
and Boxcars: Hay River Hub of the North
Summer
Shipping Lane
Pushing as many as 15 flat-bottomed
barges, lashed together in a
"train," sturdy Mackenzie
River tug boats guide cargoes
of boats, snowmobiles, mining
and drilling equipment, construction
supplies and household goods
from Hay River, on Great Slave
Lake, all the way to Tuktoyaktuk,
on the western coast of the
Arctic Ocean. At "Tuk,"
the barges are uncoupled and
moved by ocean-going tugboats
to communities in the High Arctic.
The vital Mackenzie River shipping
season extends from mid-June
to mid-October, delivering heavy
freight to remote communities
not serviced by year-round roadways.
The vast, windy waters of Great
Slave Lake, and the shallow
channels of the Mackenzie River
demand expert navigational skills
from the tug boat crews. Canadian
Coast Guard vessels also patrol
the river, maintaining navigational
aids.
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Located on the Mackenzie Highway, terminus
of Canada’s most northern railroad,
and main port of the Great Slave/Mackenzie
River shipping industry, the south shore town
of Hay River, Northwest Territories (population,
3,200) is often referred to as the “Hub
of the North.”
Hay River’s roots date back to 1868,
when a small Hudson’s Bay trading
post and an Oblate mission were built near
the site of the present-day community. Both
the post and church soon closed, and it
was not until the 1880’s that a small
group of Slavey people arrived to establish
a semi-permanent agricultural settlement.
The Slavey were joined in 1893 by an Anglican
missionary, who founded St. Peter’s
Mission and a residential school that operated
until 1937.
With the discovery of gold in the Yellowknife
region in the 1930’s, and the advance
of mining and other resource exploration
throughout the north, Hay River became the
transportation hub of Great Slave Lake.
The all-weather Mackenzie Highway re
ached the lake in 1948, and shipping companies
began to use Hay River as their base for
supplying northern settlements along the
Mackenzie River and the Arctic Coast. In
1964, the Great Slave Railway (now part
of the Canadian National Railway) from Edmonton,
Alberta, reached Hay River and the mining
site of Pine Point. With 129 kilometres
of rail line within its boundaries, the
Northwest Territories can lay claim to Canada’s
most northern rail head.
Freight arriving in Hay River by truck
and rail car is loaded onto barges operated
by the native-owned Northern Transportation
Company Limited (NCTL), a marine transportation
system with routes covering 5,000 kilometres.
The company maintains a large fleet of tugs
and a major shipyard at Hay River, giving
the town a seaport atmosphere. |
