Hikers may have recently seen survey markers, flags and tape along the Superior Hiking Trail at the Split Rock River where a flood knocked out the foot bridge there in 2015.
Superior Hiking Trail Association officials recently reported that “the first visible steps toward building a new bridge over the Split Rock River were taken in September, after many, many miles of invisible steps taken for this project going back to early 2017.”
The Parks and Trails Division of Minnesota DNR has agreed to support a hydraulic study and the engineering and design for a new bridge. The new bridge will be built upstream from the location of the last two hiking trail bridges that failed. The association raised money to foot the project. The aim is to build a bridge that will withstand a major flood event. The bridge will be made of fiberglass — just like the one we built over the Red River, near the southern terminus of the trail, and the kind commonly found in North Shore state parks.
“If all goes well, and there are more than a few potential pitfalls and hurdles, we are eyeing to build the bridge in the late summer of 2020,’’ trail association officials said.
