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[acehawk]

Well I'm in a temperate climate and as I have an aquifer 3 layers down I have zero access to stone. While I have just recently gotten in a shipment so I can start makeing mechanisms for scew pumps and all, I have an urge to build an overground fortress out of ice. Now, I'm in a temperate climate so my question is will what I construct out of ice melt? I read on the wiki that things such as walls won't, but what about floors, bridges, and roads? And can ice blocks be made? Also, if smoothed and engraved will natural ice floors and walls melt? (I assume so but it doesn't hurt to ask, nor does it hurt to try myself  )

Also, any advice on breaching the aquifer? I have no experience there haha.

[AdeleneDawner]

Anything constructed with [b ][C] won't melt. Any natural ice will melt, even if it's engraved. I don't know about roads or bridges. I think ice counts as economic and can't be toggled, so you most likely can't make blocks or other items out of it.

There've been a few good threads around on aquifers recently, and I think the wiki has been updated with the new techniques that people have been working with. Try there.

[JmzLost]

This thread has some good methods for breaching an aquifer without knowing how deep it is, and without making large holes in the surface.  The method suggested by QuantumMenace can be done without mechanisms, using wooden pumps, logs for the walls, and powering the pumps with dwarfs.

Be careful if your dwarves are digging into the aquifer outside.  If the tile shows "Above Ground" when you look at it with 'k', then water there will freeze when it is cold.  Dwarves in the water when it freezes will die, immediately.

JMZ

[RiderofDark]

I don't know about roads or bridges.

I've melted an ice bridge while ice walls stood just fine (while magma ran underneath). So an ice road will probably melt, too.

[ShinWalks]

Constructions ('b'>'C') made from mined ice are indestructable, like all constructions. Buildings made of ice, however, will melt if the temperature becomes too high.

[JamPet]

I don't know about roads or bridges.

I've melted an ice bridge while ice walls stood just fine (while magma ran underneath). So an ice road will probably melt, too.

I've seen a video where magma directly beneath ice would melt it, but if the bridge were raised a few z-levels it would be okay. Granted, this was a video from 40d, but if it were my fortress and I had the dwarf-power I'd try building a bridge maybe three levels above.

[Nilik]

So is a wall made of ice magma-proof then?

[JamPet]

A wall made with the (b)(C)(w) command oughtta be juuuust fine, if a little flavorless

[bucket]

I remember channeling out a frozen pond and trying to build ice walls underground. They vaporized/melted instantly. I can't think of any reason why.

[Lytha]

The problem was that there were lose rocks lying on the spots where you wanted to construct your ice walls.

- Dwarf arrives at the spot, with the ice in hands
- Dwarf drops the ice for a microsecond to put the rock out of the way
=> ice melts.

Clean the area of rocks before constructing, and you'll do fine.