Love this footage. Always been fascinated by Ripple Rock. My Mom, when I was little, had a photo of the blast and I was constantly looking it. Even now, old enough that I have my own grandchildren, I still stop by the area where travelers could stop and see the Narrows (though not as god a view as at the time, I'm sure). Not so easy to see now-a-days, but It's still a strange feeling knowing once-upon-a-time.... Quite the feat, blasting ol' Ripple to Rubble. Never seen this particular footage, but WOW, amazing piece of BC / Vancouver Island history.
I’ve been fascinated by this since learning of it many years ago. Seen many poor, short, clips about it, but this Dupont documentary covers the story in detail with nice clear footage of the blast. The work that went into pulling off this feat was amazing and should be more widely known. Thanks for posting this historical treasure.
As a former Alaska Marine Highway (ferry) employee for many years as an Able Bodied Seaman, I steered many different ships through the Seymour Narrows under all kinds of tidal conditions and let me tell you folks; it was ALWAYS a challenge! I can only imagine what it would have been like before they blew the top off of Ripple Rock!
I lived in Western Washington (I still do) and we were able to receive all the Vancouver, Victoria, and Bellingham TV channels perfectly. I was 11 3/4, and I remember being glued to our old black & white set. It was a truly astonishing event and I've carried my memory of it right through to the present day. Simply amazing! Thank you.
I remember watching the explosion on tv when it happened in '58--I was only 7 but the memory stuck with me all my life-so when youtube came along I finally got to learn all the particulars of this amazing project. what I find most amazing as far as everything I 've read or seen, not one man was lost accidentally in this unprecedented mining and detonation project. those Canadians are good. this is a great doc, Todd, thanks for bringing it
Most Canadians in that field were descendants of or were welsh miners like my grandfather, my parents lived in Los Angeles at the time and it was even live broadcast on cbs down there
Thank you for sharing this documentary video. I grew up in Campbell River and have fished for chinook in the Seymour Narrows many times in the 70's and early 80's before moving away nearly 40 years ago. I was born after the 1958 blast and have never seen this film footage before. Cheers...
Before my time but incredible to watch. So many if this major achievements are so impressive as years and years before lasers computers and today's technology...
Now that's what I call an explosion !, as a species we sure know how to blow shit up, the effort that went into doing it properly is commendable, well worth the watch, thanks for posting.
It's interesting. Other large blasts included the ship filled with war explosives in Halifax harbour (WW1) and the destruction of a German command centre in WW1 using 1M pounds of explosives.
As a person working in mining as a hoist operator I laughed when I noticed @ 5:30 that they got off the cage before the hoist man gave them three bells ...the signal that tells them the brakes are set so the conveyance won't plunge to the bottom. Miners are still the same today LOL. This was an amazing reminder that once upon a time our country could actually ACHIEVE something noteworthy.
I lived in Campbell River at that time., a young mother of an 19 months old and a two month old baby. We were told to listen to the countdown on the local radio station and to go outside away from the windows before the blast. Given that this was the largest TNT explosion ever, it was not known whether our windows would break. There was no damage. My husband was a pilot ( of sea planes) in Campbell River and flew up to view the blast from a safe distance. It was an interesting time!
What bothers me about this story is in the beginning when they were clearing Maud island for the tunnel a fish boat with 9 men on it returning from work rolled over and all were lost. One of the men on the boat was a relative of mine with the same name as me , John Surgenor.
Love this footage. Always been fascinated by Ripple Rock. My Mom, when I was little, had a photo of the blast and I was constantly looking it. Even now, old enough that I have my own grandchildren, I still stop by the area where travelers could stop and see the Narrows (though not as god a view as at the time, I'm sure). Not so easy to see now-a-days, but It's still a strange feeling knowing once-upon-a-time.... Quite the feat, blasting ol' Ripple to Rubble.
Never seen this particular footage, but WOW, amazing piece of BC / Vancouver Island history.
I’ve been fascinated by this since learning of it many years ago. Seen many poor, short, clips about it, but this Dupont documentary covers the story in detail with nice clear footage of the blast. The work that went into pulling off this feat was amazing and should be more widely known. Thanks for posting this historical treasure.
As a former Alaska Marine Highway (ferry) employee for many years as an Able Bodied Seaman, I steered many different ships through the Seymour Narrows under all kinds of tidal conditions and let me tell you folks; it was ALWAYS a challenge! I can only imagine what it would have been like before they blew the top off of Ripple Rock!
I lived in Western Washington (I still do) and we were able to receive all the Vancouver, Victoria, and Bellingham TV channels perfectly. I was 11 3/4, and I remember being glued to our old black & white set. It was a truly astonishing event and I've carried my memory of it right through to the present day. Simply amazing! Thank you.
I remember watching the explosion on tv when it happened in '58--I was only 7 but the memory stuck with me all my life-so when youtube came along I finally got to learn all the particulars of this amazing project. what I find most amazing as far as everything I 've read or seen, not one man was lost accidentally in this unprecedented mining and detonation project. those Canadians are good. this is a great doc, Todd, thanks for bringing it
Yeah, me too, I was only twelve, saw it on TV in Coquitlam B.C with the family... don't get any younger do we !!
@@terfle1106 cheers lads
Most Canadians in that field were descendants of or were welsh miners like my grandfather, my parents lived in Los Angeles at the time and it was even live broadcast on cbs down there
Thank you for sharing this documentary video. I grew up in Campbell River and have fished for chinook in the Seymour Narrows many times in the 70's and early 80's before moving away nearly 40 years ago. I was born after the 1958 blast and have never seen this film footage before. Cheers...
Very nice. Thank you for the doc. My father almost went down going through the currents in his fishing boat 2 years before the blast.
Ripple Rock was on the (inside) Eastside of Vancouver Island part of the inside passage. Thanks for the video
Before my time but incredible to watch. So many if this major achievements are so impressive as years and years before lasers computers and today's technology...
Thank you for this Todd...Super cool program about this....
This is cooler than any fiction I've read about dwarves mining.
Now that's what I call an explosion !, as a species we sure know how to blow shit up, the effort that went into doing it properly is commendable, well worth the watch, thanks for posting.
I'm blown away by how complicated and time consuming this operation is. We could probably do the same thing now with a couple of JDAMS.
JDAMS would not penetrate deep enough to cause internal capture of the explosion - ie holding a fire cracker in your closed hand
Great documentary!👍
wow, had no idea they had to tunnel that complex
Today they wouldn't do anything like this... The lives of fish is more important than the live of people!
It's on the East Coast of Vancouver Island. Passed over it twice.
I remember watching this live, on TV, when it happened.
A nice piece of history there.
It's interesting. Other large blasts included the ship filled with war explosives in Halifax harbour (WW1) and the destruction of a German command centre in WW1 using 1M pounds of explosives.
As a person working in mining as a hoist operator I laughed when I noticed @ 5:30 that they got off the cage before the hoist man gave them three bells ...the signal that tells them the brakes are set so the conveyance won't plunge to the bottom. Miners are still the same today LOL. This was an amazing reminder that once upon a time our country could actually ACHIEVE something noteworthy.
Absolutely an engineering feat! That’s when men were men !!!!
Very nice. Couldn't do anything like this today. The ecofreaks would fight it in court, and the environmental impact study would take decades.
amazing piece of history
Was that behind Quadra
No, it was a few miles north of Campbell River .
I like this kind of content.
Seeing it spelled R.C.M.Police is off putting lol
This all looks ecologically sound, was pretty cool though
I would have went out after the blast to gather some dead fish :).
I wondered about that, too. How many fish got killed!!!
Who here was in Campbell rivee
I went with my father to see the explosion but it was too cloudy and we weren't able to see it anything.
I lived in Campbell River at that time., a young mother of an 19 months old and a two month old baby. We were told to listen to the countdown on the local radio station and to go outside away from the windows before the blast. Given that this was the largest TNT explosion ever, it was not known whether our windows would break. There was no damage. My husband was a pilot ( of sea planes) in Campbell River and flew up to view the blast from a safe distance. It was an interesting time!
One is tempted to wonder how many fish that killed! Talk about dynamite fishing!
ah yes, AvE's first job
What bothers me about this story is in the beginning when they were clearing Maud island for the tunnel a fish boat with 9 men on it returning from work rolled over and all were lost. One of the men on the boat was a relative of mine with the same name as me , John Surgenor.