There was no effort to remove heavy equipment from the bottom of the Nisutlin River in Teslin over the weekend.

Northwestel Inc. spokeswoman Anne Kennedy said this morning it was determined the barges shipped to the village from Whitehorse that were to be used in the retrieval are too heavy to manoeuvre with the winches available.

Bob Hassard did try to pull up the sunken apparatus built specifically to assist with the salvage, but apparently it's still snagged on something below the surface, she said.

Hassard is expected to send a diver down today or tomorrow to have a look. He's also trying to line up an underwater camera.

Meanwhile, Kennedy explained, Northwestel will explore the option of using a crane positioned on the bridge deck to lift its Snowcat from the river bottom.

A crane operator will head to Teslin tomorrow to assess the situation. If the option is viable, the phone company will approach the territorial highways branch to see if they can get permission, as there are structural considerations as well as the need to close the Alaska Highway while the work is in progress.

But the first option is still retrieving Hassard's special A-frame apparatus, then positioning it over the hole to lift out the Snowcat, she said.

That machine fell through the ice Feb. 24 while plowing a route under the bridge to allow for the movement of a scissor lift required by phone crews to work on cables running alongside the bridge.

Hassard's Komatsu loader went through the ice three days later while he was setting up for an attempt to lift out the Snowcat. The A-frame apparatus went through during an attempt to retrieve the loader.

There's been no evidence of any fuel leaking from either machine.