With snowmobiles in the winter…rafts in the summer…limited power equipment…and lots of heavy lifting—they achieved the impossible
In September 2017 we said goodbye to one of our crowning achievements—the bridge over the Battle River, also known as Low’s Crossing. After many years of service, the bridge was about to fall into the river. With a lot of planning and labour from our Trail Maintenance team, plus generous support from the landowner and his equipment, the bridge was taken down and moved over two Mondays. We told you the story here.
But how—and why—did the bridge get built in the first place?
If you were at the AGM in 2017, you would have seen the excellent presentation on how the bridge was built. It was presented by Gene Miskiw, the man who was involved at every stage and took all the photos.
Now Gene has written the complete story of building the bridge, and you can read it here.
This is a story about
- Reuse and recycle: Where did all the bridge materials come from?
- Safety with ingenuity: How Gene managed to transport the thirty-foot rods with just his van—and attract the notice of the highway police.
- Wrestling with nature: From mosquitoes and bloodsuckers, to dangerous slopes, high water, and the freak snowstorm that obliterated their tracks and threatened to leave them stranded.
- The wonder of nature: The moving story of a herd of deer.
- Fun and adventure: How they had talk Stan into putting on a life jacket before getting on the raft.
Could a bridge like this be built today? Read Gene’s story and decide for yourself.
This is a terrific story, a small saga of energetic personal endeavors by volunteers. I never had much to do with the Waskahegan myself but pleased that I introduced Gene to the Association many years ago; he always enjoyed it and contributed a lot to it, and it has contributed a lot to the lives of many people as well as his. (A younger brother…)
The link above is broken; here’s a corrected version: https://waskahegantrail.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Battle-Bridge-Story.pdf
Great story, thanks!