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| Rivière
La Blanche, photo by Joanne McKinnon |
2,708 miles
Sept 13 – The
“White” River was explored, mapped, and described in 1815 by Joseph Bouchette. This seems late in the process of the great
Quebec explorations. Did it really take
French explorers 200 years after Samuel de Champlain to get around to this
little river? Bouchette named the river
from the whitish clay soils which tinge the water.
On the
eastern edge of Gatineau, the river meanders through residential areas as a greenbelt
behind many houses and several parks connected by walking trails. It is a
secluded parkland area screened from homes by a mature woods and train tracks. In a
large area where no city streets cross the river, volunteers built three
covered bridges for walkers and bicycles, and donated them to the city of Gatineau.
The area’s
city councilor, Jean Lessard said, “It’s unique in Canada to have three covered
bridges over one river.” It’s also an
ecological area where the bridges are an important series of links for cycling
and walking paths. “It’s so beautiful and
so practical,” Lessard said.
There were
about 100 volunteers involved in the work, part of a group called the
Corporation de la Rivière Blanche de Gatineau. All the wooden beams were cut in
a factory with holes pre-drilled for easier assembly at the site.
 |
| bridge destroyed in 2011 |
One bridge,
the Brabant-Philippe, was built by volunteers in 2007. The second was completed in 2009.
On New
Year’s Eve 2011, teenaged arsonists completely destroyed the Brabant-Philippe.
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| bridge supports torched |
In 2015, the
first bridge was rebuilt by the volunteers, using steel girders this time. That summer, someone used some kind of torch
to burn the structure supports. No one
was caught.
And then one night in June 2016, a small blaze did serious damage to several 8x8 beams in the bridge’s foundation. The fire department put out the latest fire, and the bridge was closed while engineers determined whether it was safe to cross.
City
Councilor Lessard called for security cameras on the bridge. “There’s no sense in letting vandals try to
burn it again,” he said.
 |
| re-building the bridge |
The executive
director of the volunteer builders association, Eugene Boudreau, was
understandably discouraged. "It
makes me wonder whether it's worth going through all the efforts we put
together as a group of volunteers, to give our time ... to bring something to
this community that, to me, is very important."
These
bridges are charming and useful for the community. Everyone wonders what unhappy person would be
so determined to destroy this bridge.
What does it symbolize for this individual?
info: http://www.ottawasun.com/2016/06/16/latest-covered-bridge-arson-prompts-calls-for-security-cameras
images: Google Images & Ottawa Sun
Joanne McKinnon art photography: joannemckinnon.net
Joanne McKinnon art photography: joannemckinnon.net
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