Construction set to begin on Sylvia Grinnell bridge

The far side of the Sylvia Grinnell River will soon be accessible by foot.

Thanks to a joint agreement between the Trans Canada Trails Foundation and the Department of National Defence, a 100-metre-long, one-metre-wide pedestrian bridge will be built across the river. Currently, the only way to get to the other side of the river is by boat.

Heather Gosselin, the Nunavut government’s coordinator of park planning and design, said the department has been working on the bridge proposal for a couple of years and had a positive push last September.

That coincided with a Department of National Defence engineering corps program called Bridges for Canada, a three-year initiative moving into its third year next summer.

“They build bridges for the Trans Canada Trail, at least one in each province and territory across Canada,” she said. The Trans Canada Trail is a recreational trail system that will wind through every province and territory in the country. When completed, it will be the longest of its kind in the world at about 17,898 kilometres.

Nunavut’s trail is designated to run between Iqaluit and Kimmirut.

“It was a great fit,” Gosselin said. “It met [the DND engineering corps’] goal to build a bridge for the Trans Canada Trail and then we needed some facilities in the Sylvia Grinnell Park. It’s also part of the master plan which was approved between five to seven years ago for the park.”

The master plan for the park was approved through community consultations.

“The purpose of the bridge is to give community as well as tourism access to the other side of the river,” she said. “The master plan has this side of the river as a sort of high-use area for the park, generally used for everyone to go out and enjoy themselves. On the other side there are a lot of archaeological sites and pristine habitats so the master plan looks at keeping that as a pristine environment — very low-impact activities.”

Residents concerned about the impact of the bridge on the of the river can present their concerns under the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Navigable Waters Protection Act, by writing to the Coast Guard.

Gosselin has estimated that, including in-kind donations and labour, the bridge will cost between $800,000 and $1 million. The Rotary Club of Iqaluit is raising funds for the project along with the Trans Canada Trail, Gosselin said, so the project uses no cash directly from government.

The bridge will cross the river at the first set of rapids you encounter when driving on the new road beside the airport runway.

“There’s a little knoll where people are camping on — it’s right around there,” she said.

In past years, studies have been done by consultants to figure out the best location for the bridge. After four site surveys, engineers determined the final location based on the stability of the ground on either side of the river.

Gosselin said a DND crew would lay the foundation for the structure late this summer and complete the full super-structure next year. The suspension-style bridge will hover 4.5 metres above the high water level. She said they are looking at trying to get a local cadet group involved as well as a training program.