A permanent set of stairs now links the pavement of the Trans Canada Trail to the beach on the west side of the Nursery Trestle, a popular swimming hole and transit point for tubers and boaters on the river.
Grand Forks Community Trails members volunteered several hours of a Saturday last month to build the stairs at the trestle located east of Grand Forks.
“With all the traffic up and down the embankment, the surface has been worn away in the past creating a trench, eventually compromising the trail surface,” said Community Trails member Chris Moslin. “When the paving was done last year, the contractor filled the trench with large boulders to create the surface for the pavement. By building the stairs, we have ensured that persons travelling back and forth from the trail to the beach will be able to do so safely and that the integrity of the trail surface is assured.”
The trestle is known as the Nursery Trestle by locals. Technically speaking, the trestle was named by the Canadian Pacific Railway by its milepost (M92.3). The truss bears a 1912 builder’s plate from the Manitoba Bridge & Iron Works.
In July 2003 the trestle and its longer counterpart, the Kettle River Trestle, were decked by the British Royal Engineers and the CME 44th Squadron from Trail. After the trestles were decked they were renamed in honour of two local soldiers: the Kettle River Trestle became the Smitten Trestle and the Nursery became the Munro Trestle.