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Redo piers and save Trail's old bridge

Trail resident shares ideas on rebuilding the old bridge in Trail

In about 1950, I worked on the Great Northern Railway bridge Gang. This was on the Pend d’Oreille River at Waneta, on the railroad bridge, right there where the Pend d’Oreille dumps into the Columbia River.

I worked on that crew that built the piers for that bridge. We had to build coffer dams to divert the water so we could put the footings right on the river bed. Two carpenters from Sweden worked under the direction of the foreman on the project.

After the footings were poured, with the cement being augured from the shore right into the framework. Up went the remainder of the framework and cement poured into it, to the proper height for the steel gang to finish the bridge. Lots of framework, lots of cement.

We need new piers under the old bridge in Trail.

And you will have a pipe bridge and a walking bridge all ready for use. For years to come.

John Carter,

Trail