Residents are buzzing with excitement as Sarnia Lambton’s own century old Cull Drain Bridge in Brights Grove is nominated for prestigious international awards.
The Cull Drain Bridge is nominated for 3 Bridgehunter Awards: Best Bridge Photo, Bridge of the Year and Endangered Truss.
The Bridgehunter Awards are held annually by the online column The Bridgehunter Chronicles that celebrates historic bridges across the US, Europe, and Canada that tourists should visit before they are removed or replaced. Further information here.
“Each bridge is profiled with the goal that people are aware of its existence and can take action regarding saving them," states the blog.
Vicki Schauteet, who runs the Friends of the Cull Drain Bridge Facebook page, a volunteer-run group, was contacted by the blog to nominate the bridge for the 2024 awards.
“They contacted us to tell us it was happening, and I did the nomination," Schauteet said.
Schauteet and her group are passionate about preserving the local history of the bridge, which has a unique significance behind it.
“It's one of the few historical things we have in Brights Grove that links us to the past and it's got quite a history. I think it links Sarnia to destinations further up," Schauteet explained
The Cull Drain Bridge was built in 1910 by the Sarnia Firm Jenks & Dresser, locally engineered and made, which was the predecessor company responsible for building the Blue Water Bridge in 1937.
Now situated in Mike Weir Park, its former location was alongside Lake Huron sitting just east of Telfer Rd in Brights Grove, providing locals with picturesque views of the water until closing in 2012 due to safety concerns.
Originally built to carry cars across it as part of what was known as the Blue Water highway, the bridge held firm until the 1970s when the road was closed for good and became a favoured walking spot amongst residents.
“It survived every single storm. But that little bridge sat there, you know, it just continued to just to exist despite all these storms that did so much damage.”, Schauteet explained.
The bridge was set to be demolished in 2014, but the City of Sarnia opted to relocate it instead, and it has remained in the park for over a decade.
“I offered for them to move it to my farm, and my husband's sort of said what? You're going to move a 100 tons bridge to our farm. But then the city decided to move it to Mike Weir Park. And volunteers have been working on it since," Schauteet recalls.
The Friends of the Cull Drain Bridge group hopes to restore the bridge to its original glory to not only to preserve a much beloved local landmark but to help boost tourism by maintaining an important communal monument’s history.
“It's part of our bones. It's our history.”
“It would be a loss for future generations not to have that complete trail all along the lake at Brights Grove," asserts Schauteet.
Winning would involve prize money, that would go directly towards the preservation of the bridge.
“My grandmother lived on one side and my grandfather lived on the other," explains Schauteet. "They might not have gotten together if that bridge hadn't been there. I have some family history as well as personal history [attached to the bridge], and through the years I've talked to a lot of local people that feel the same," Schauteet added wistfully.
Since the article was written, voting has finished, and the Cull Drain Bridge won four medals in three categories in the Bridgehunter Awards. More info here.