Success!!!

A bridge over water!
(photo credit Barney Gilmore)

Never a doubt.
(photo credit Barney Gilmore)

We're still recovering from the stress and celebration of last week, but the bottom line is that the installation went smoothly.

Yahoo!!

This Thursday July 2 is the day!

The crane

The crane is in Kaslo…..all systems are go! (we hope!).

The bridge girders

The lift is planned for approximately

11:30 am to 12:30 pm on Thursday July 2.

Please watch from the north side.

Wish us well!

New bridge date & Wednesday work party

It looks like all is in place for the bridge girders to be slung across the Kaslo river this Thursday, July 2. The actual time is a bit "iffy" but its suspected to be around noonish….I will send out a notice if that time is going to change. Once again, if you are planning to watch, please go to the north side.

With Wednesday being Canada Day, we will not be having a trail work party this week, and after Thursday it will be "all hands on deck" for the bridge.

Should be fun!

Crane CANCELLED for Thursday, June 25

Much to our disappointment, there has been a last minute scheduling conflict and the bridge will NOT be put in place on Thursday.

We will let you know when we're able to reschedule. Several parties, including Fortis, have to be in sync to make this happen so it's not just a matter of booking the crane.

Bridge and crane update for Thursday, June 25

UPDATE:  Due to a last minute scheduling conflict, the bridge installation has been postponed.

The crane will arrive mid-morning on Thursday, June 25.

The bridge girders will be moved into place across the Kaslo River between about 12:30 and 1:30 pm.

PLEASE stay well back and keep on the north side of the river if you want to watch.

No Wednesday work parties for a while

There will be no trail work parties on Wednesday's for the next while as all hands will be working on the bridge, which will be slung into place on Thursday (if all goes as planned).

If you are planning to watch the process we would ask that you do so from the north side of the river, since the crane will be working from the south side. Once we know a time that the crane will be arriving, we will send out a notice and post in on the Kaslo Community web.

Three Big Steps... One Giant Leap to Go!

Update:  The crane has been booked for Thursday, JUNE 25 to move the steel girders over the river.  This is the trickiest and most exciting part of constructing the bridge.  Let's hope it's long enough!

The following press release appeared in the Valley Voice (June 3/15) and Pennywise (June 16/15)

Click image to enlarge

There were a few tense moments for the Kaslo Trailblazers, but the unloading of the bridge on March 21 ended with a “high five” when Glen Settle of Settle Holdings slung the two 59 foot sections to a safe landing on the south bank of the Kaslo River.

Two concrete bridge abutments and protective riprap had already been constructed by Tom Duchastel and Chris Temple, with great assistance from the Village of Kaslo crew. Meanwhile, Val Koenig and his faithful band of stainers had painted three coats of magenta (beetroot) on the wooden superstructure.

Click image to enlarge

Next comes the dry land carpentry to build the treads, the railings, and the posts. The culmination will be when a crane lowers the 118 foot steel ribs across the water at the end of Fifth Street and the final assembly begins.

Don’t forget you can still sponsor a bridge tread ($150) or a post ($500) with an engraved plaque. Call Val at 250-353-2168 or email kaslotrailblazers@gmail.com.

The plaque wording is yours, but your gift is for everyone.

Bridge work parties next week June 16 & 17

Two work parties are scheduled for next week on Tuesday and Wednesday building the roof trusses.  A good cordless or corded ⅜" drill is needed (bring an extension cord if you need one).

Start time is 7am to avoid working in the heat. Meet at the Village works yard where we were doing the staining. Some heavy lifting is required.

Bridge staining and concrete complete!

Over 600 volunteer hours later!!……all the staining and concrete abutment work is done. A VERY BIG THANK YOU to everyone who came out to fling a bit of stain onto the boards and who helped to build and remove forms etc for the concrete work.  Kaslo is amazing when it comes to getting projects done. The steel girders are on dry land and have been joined together to form the full 101' / 30.9m long arch…..come have a look if you haven't already done so. They are on the south side of the river just behind the Village Shop.

Next stage……pre-fitting all of the lumber and building the roof trusses. If you are handy with woodworking tools and helping to dry fit the pieces then we could use your help. More information to follow with times of work parties for this part of the project.

Again, thanks very much for all of your help…..its been good fun!

Cheers

Stu, Val, Ken, Tom, Gerald

Another $6,000 raised for the Unity Bridge!

This past week has been another good fundraising week:

1) We raised $2,000 at May Days and are well over 150 members for 2015. Those post plaques for $500 are popular!

2) We received $2,000 from Kootenay Savings Community Foundation to help put the roof on the bridge. KSCF was a major sponsor of our first bridge, so we're pleased to have them be represented on this one too.

Community Fund of
North Kootenay Lake

3) We also received $2,001 from the Community Fund of North Kootenay Lake. Combined with earlier contributions, this makes CFNKL a Platinum Sponsor and currently one of our top 5 cash contributors to the bridge.

The girders are coming!

UPDATE:  The steel girders are now spending the night in Nakusp and will arrive between 9 and 10 am tomorrow (Thursday) morning. They will be unloaded shortly after that. Please remember to keep your distance and park far away if you come to watch the unloading.

The steel girders for the bridge will arrive this afternoon and be unloaded tomorrow morning (Thursday). The delivery trailer will stay at the Village Works Yard beside the recycling depot overnight.

If you want to come down and take a look at them or watch the unloading, please park in town across the highway bridge as space in the area will be limited. That's $100,000 you'll be looking at!

No bridge staining this Saturday

Due to May Days commitments, there will be no bridge staining work this Saturday, May 16.

No bridge staining work party Saturday May 2

We have been having great turn-outs for the bridge staining recently……thanks very much for your time and energy! Val says "no work party this Saturday" May 2, as he and other coordinators have other commitments.

Next bridge staining work party will be Tuesday May 5.

We raised more than $6,000 last week!

Last week was a very good week for the Kaslo Trailblazers:

1. Our membership drive April 21-24 raised $2,130 and signed up more than 125 members. Thank you, Trailblazers! Another big thank you goes to our new membership chair, Chris Carroll, for organizing the event.
   
   If you haven't got your membership yet or want to sponsor a plaque, look for our table at May Days or use the Canada Helps donation site at https://www.canadahelps.org/dn/8826


2. We received $3,942 in CBT Community Initiatives funding for the 5th Street Unity pedestrian bridge. This was voted on by Kaslo & Area D residents at a meeting on April 16, and it was the highest amount awarded on the ballot!
   
   Thank you to all who voted, it's great to see so much community support for the bridge. Hats off also to CBT for making the funding available, and Suzan Hewat for managing the meeting and allocations.

No work party May 6

There will be no work party next week, so if you have some time…..

Bridge timber staining is Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday from 9:30am-12:30pm and 12:30-3:00pm, at the Village Shop.

 "Many hands make light work."

If you are hiking above the Wardner Viewpoint trail and see some new trails…..they are new switchbacks that avoid very steep sections…..follow them and they will connect you aback to the main trail.

5th Street Unity Bridge Construction Begins

The following press release appeared in the Pennywise (April 21/15) and Valley Voice (April 22/15).

Gerald, Stu and Carol stain the bridge

It is often said that good things come to those who wait.  Well, we have waited since 2007, and that's long enough.  We're talking about the new 5th Street Unity Bridge across the Kaslo River.  This bridge will complete the Kaslo River Trail loop.

Building has started.  Construction has begun on the abutments with rip-rap placed to protect the north side bank and concrete wings. Cement for the footings on the north side was poured the week of April 7th and leftover concrete was used to make more retaining blocks.

Volunteers are also busy staining all timber for this new pedestrian bridge - the same rich raspberry colour as the first bridge.  We work on this most Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 10 am to 3 pm and are grateful for any volunteers who can join us for a few hours on these days.  Every little bit helps.

The steel structure was constructed during the winter and will be delivered to us for assembly during early May.  We plan to put the whole steel and timber structure together on land in May, number all the pieces, remove the wood and then place the steel framework on its foundations.  Once the steel structure is in place spanning the river, the wood parts will be put back and we will have a bridge!  How pleasant it will be to cross this new bridge and avoid the highway during the busy summer months!  It should be especially gratifying for our numerous supporters who sponsored bridge plaques to help cover part of our costs.

Everyone who has seen the construction start has commented positively.  We have plaque sponsors from 9 countries plus all the provinces except Ontario and Quebec.  We're always looking for friends or family from all areas of Canada and the rest of the world who can help us get this bridge paid for.  For more information, or to become a sponsor, please look up our website at www.kaslotrailblazers.org or email kaslotrailblazers@gmail.com

See you on the bridge!

Val Koenig
President, Kaslo Trailblazers Society

No bridge staining work party Saturday, April 4

It being Easter this coming weekend there will be no bridge staining work party this Saturday April 4.

We are progressing well staining all of the wood for the bridge, and Tom Duchastel and his crew are making good progress on the north side bridge abutment.  If you haven't already, stop by and take a look at all of the work done to date.

We will begin staining again next Tuesday April 7.

No bridge staining on Saturday, March 21

There will be no bridge staining work party this Saturday, March 21.

If you can help Val cut the boards to length on Friday March 20 10:30am-12noon please go to the Village Shop. He is looking for 3 people to help move boards in and out of his cut saw.

5th Street Bridge work begins!

Dear Trailblazer Members and Friends of Hiking

2015 will be a busy year for us starting with staining all of the lumber for the new 5th Street Unity Bridge. Air temperature permitting (must be above 11C for the stain), rain or shine, we will start the staining on Tuesday, March 17th at 10am.

Wear old clothes and come to the Village Shop and Maintenance yard (where the recycling bins are located). We will supply brushes and gloves. If we get enough supervisors (very simple duties) we hope to stain every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday in 2 shifts each day, from 10am-12:30pm, and from 12:30pm-3pm until all of the lumber has received 3 coats of stain. Supervisors will pick up and drop off stain and paint brushes as well as keep track of the number of volunteer hours for that shift. Please call Val 250-353-2168 if you can assist in that capacity. We also require some sawhorses….they do not have to be in the best of shape.

Secondly, we need a Membership chairperson/coordinator. This is not a heavy duty job except for setting up volunteers for membership drives at the Kaslo Credit Union and the Christmas Craft Fair. We have the possibility of raising $1500-$2500 in this week which is good funding for minimal effort. Val will be very happy to guide you through this week. Please don't leave this for someone else….call Val today.

Your sincerely,

Val Koenig, President

250-353-2168

Kaslo Trailblazers Society

kaslotrailblazers@gmail.com

www.kaslotrailblazers.org

http://kaslotrailblazers.blogspot.ca