A Tale of Two Bridges
“It’s not every day that someone offers you two
wooden bridges.”
For Trails Manitoba, the not-for-profit responsible for Manitoba’s portion of The Great Trail (the
new name for the Trans Canada Trail), it was a real blessing in disguise.
The bridges were installed in King’s Park, a city-owned regional community park in Fort Richmond.
They had a unique, eastern-inspired architectural style to complement a small pagoda. The arched
bridges were nestled into meandering pathways near a waterfall and pond.
The City of Winnipeg completed a study of King’s Park and subsequent master plan in 2016. During
this time, the bridges were identified as an accessibility issue, as their rounded slopes were not suitable
for barrier-free access in this public park.
Evan Manning, an engineer from Pier Solutions/Fort Richmond Construction, was familiar with
Trails Manitoba, as he had bid on a four-bridge tender in 2016 — an ambitious effort to install bridges
over Caribou Creek, Cabin Lake, and Rennie River in the North Whiteshell and Hanson’s Creek on the
Centennial Trail.
Due to budget constraints, Trails Manitoba was only able to install two of the four structures — at
Caribou Creek and Rennie River.
Pier Solutions was hired by the City of Winnipeg to remove and replace the bridges from King’s
Park. An evaluation of the King’s Park structures revealed they still had an estimated life span of 30
years (post refurbishment) and that they were the ideal size for the gaps remaining at Cabin Lake and
Hanson’sCreek. The location at Hanson’s Creek is about an hour’s hike south of the Bear Lake Hiking
Trail parking lot along the Centennial Trail.
During high water season, the creek is very difficult to cross, limiting access to portions of the trail.
The Centennial Trail is a rugged backcountry trail and therefore not a barrier-free environment. As a
result, providing a universally accessible bridge was not a requirement of the project.
With the co-ordination of Pier Solutions, Manitoba Sustainable Development and Cindy Bell of the
local Centennial Trail group along with financial support from the Trans Canada Trail (still the name of
the body which looks after The Great Trail), Trails Manitoba, and Pier Solutions, the relocation of the
bridge to Hanson’s Creek became a reality.
The bridge was refurbished and painted a bold, red colour, much like at King’s Park.
Pier Solutions prepped the remote site, heated, hoarded and poured concrete, and moved materials
over the frozen Hanson’s Creek with an all-terrain vehicle. The dismantled bridge rails and girders were
shipped to Whiteshell Provincial Park.
On a frigid morning in January 2019, everything was lifted and
transported by helicopter to its final destination. Final assembly,
touch-up painting, and decking was installed in early May.
The crossing of Hanson’s Creek is now complete and the
Centennial Trail now hosts a stunning red bridge against a
beautiful boreal forest backdrop.
The second red bridge from King’s Park is slated to be
refurbished and installed in the North Whiteshell at Cabin
Lake.
Darcy Granove,
Provincial Trails Project Manager-Trails Manitoba
Little Bluestem Landscape Architecture.
Annual Report -2018 Year in Review
p.13