Ice work

Ice-maker Reece Aiken, of Dunedin, watched by New Zealand Curling executive council member Bruce Kissel, lays a sheet of water at the new indoor curling facility at Alexandra’s IceInline.

Laying the ice for the Olympic-level rink involves a careful process of timing and temperature.

When finished the ice will be 20mm-25mm thick and have a temperature of about minus 6degC.

First a spray of water covered the concrete, then Mr Aiken went over the surface several times with a hose at a steady pace.

For the final layer he used a type of nozzle with very small holes to create tiny frozen pebbles of ice, like miniature ball bearings.

The $500,000 facility will have a soft opening in about two to three weeks before an official opening in the last week of May.