PORTLAND – It’s a sure sign that spring can’t be too far away.

The Coast Guard announced that three cutters would begin breaking ice on the Kennebec River this Monday. The goal is to smash ice from the Carlton Bridge in Bath as far north as the Richmond Dresden Bridge by March 24. The cutters will work their way north to Gardiner.

The icebreaking efforts are aimed at flood relief on the Kennebec River.

The Coast Guard is warning snowmobilers, ice fishermen and others to stay off the river in those areas where the cutters are working because the ice will be hazardous.