Building bridges
Evangeline ATV Club unveils covered crossing for one of its trails
ABRAM-VILLAGE, P.E.I. – Down a snowy trail through the woods and over a little babbling brook near AbramVillage stands a new and rather unusual sight for P.E.I. – a covered bridge.
Measuring just eight feet wide by 20 feet long, the wood and metal structure has been dubbed The Covered Link by its creators in the Evangeline ATV Club.
It’s the brainchild of Teresa Twijnstra, a board member of the club, and was brought to life by the support of local sponsors and the hard work of volunteers.
Twijnstra is an avid ATV rider and a strong believer in growing the hobby’s tourism potential on the Island. She got the idea for the bridge after seeing many of the structures during her own riding excursions to New Brunswick.
“(New Brunswick) has quite a few on their trails and I just find it very unique,” said Twijnstra.
She brought the idea to her board about a year ago and found support.
The club could have easily built a less resource-intensive structure, she said, but sometimes simpler doesn’t mean better.
“It’s just nice to be different, you don’t want to have everything the same,” she said.
The bridge was officially unveiled in a small ribboncutting ceremony on Sunday, Feb. 5. It can be found off the club trail on Taddy Road, between Wellington and Abram-Village.
The structure is comprised of a metal sea can (shipping container), to which windows, solar-powered lighting and a peaked roof have been added.
The exterior has been covered in juniper and designed to look like a traditional covered bridge.
The cost of the wood and transportation of the sea can was sponsored by Linkletter Farms, while Curran and Briggs provided equipment for the installation. The construction labour was contributed by club member Jules Arsenault, who was on hand for the opening.
“It turned out really good. Through time she’s going to get weathered and gray, and will look real sharp,” said Arsenault.
“It’s definitely going to bring people around who are going to want to see it and go through it. (Maybe) give them ideas – there might be more (coming) on the Island,” he said.
That’s a hope shared by the P.E.I. ATV Federation.
Kelly Dowling, a spokesperson for the federation, said structures like the Evangeline club’s bridge are not only a landmark, they also add character to the growing network of ATV trails on the Island and could help bring in new tourism opportunities for the Island’s economy.
“This is amazing. It’s beautiful. It’s the first of its kind on P.E.I. So, we’re super super proud of the Evangeline ATV club,” said Dowling.
“The federation and the clubs are really starting to turn towards tourism, so this definitely creates a destination on the Evangeline club’s trails at this point. It’s going to draw more people to their trails, it’s kind of a landmark now.”
The project has been such a success that Twijnstra already has dreams of adding to it.
“I think it looks fabulous, I want to do another one,” she laughed.