Funding needed to rebuild the Beaver River Trestle. In June of 2012, the bridge, which runs on the Iron Horse Trail, suffered severe damage from arson.
Mary-Anne Price, with the Iron Horse Trail, says the arson caused “1.5 million dollars in damage.” Which was quite substantial, says Price, “it was damaged enough that it had to be closed to the public, it’s not open for use at all.” Price with the says the bridge is an important component of the trail, “this is the connecting trail, it’s part of Alberta’s Iron Horse Trail, but also the connecting trail between Alberta and Saskatchewan for the Trans-Canadian Snowmobile Trail.”
Even the impact the lack of use of the bridge has on The Lakeland is major, explains Price, “it’s the connector between communities.” Without the bridge there is no connection to Cold Lake on the Iron Horse Trail, says Price, “it’s six kilometers outside of Cold Lake, so its effectively cut-off The City of Cold Lake from the rest of the Iron Horse Trail.”
Price says although the Rebuilding Committee has been successful in raising funds for the project, they are still a long way from reaching their goal. “We are short $700 000,” Price explains, “that’s what were trying to raise awareness about and get the public support behind us.” Price says the committee is stirring up interest through fundraising events.
The next event will be Saturday, June 6th, 2015 for National Trails Day at The Cold Lake Staging Area. (5101 – 47 Avenue) right behind the Fas Gas station. Cody Malbeuf, with Country 99, will be live on location for the fundraiser from 12:00pm to 4:00pm.
Price says the committee has started some of the work on the trestle, “shortly after the fire, we did do an assessment and a stabilization was done.” Plans are in the works, continues Price, “we’ve also drawn up the refurbish plans and sent it out to tenders, and awarded the tender contracts.”
Some work has already started, says Price, “on May 12th, the contract company moved on site, on the un-burnt portion of trestle and started working on the hand-railing.” “All of the railing on the trestle needs to be replaced, so that was the first project,” says Price.
For more on the Iron Horse Trail visit Travel Alberta online.