;
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THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

11

a

-ON GRAHAM_ISLAND

-

- LONGEST PLANK ROAD

- NOW LOST TO HISTORY

- By FRANCIS DICKIE
_ What could have been a
highly interesting historic

-“ monument — the world’s

‘

-longest plank road on Gra-
ham Island — has been lost
_to history. In British Colum-
bia this route was unique in
“the entire world; its length
only possible in a region in-
. credibly rich in large trees.
It was built in 1929 between
“two little frontier settlements,
-Tiell and Port Clements.
These were only 14 straight

“miles apart; yet could not be

_~ directly connected as quaking

_bog covered the distance be-
tween, a bog so dangerous it
-could swallow up man, animal
_or vehicle in a matter of min-
utes.
- The pioneers of these vil-
lages already had some ex-
“perience with quagmire con-
-ditions around their homes.
They had laid planks over
~short distances for safe walk-
_ing. From this came the idea

to make a direct roadway be-
tween Tlell and Port Cle-
ments.

Two local sawmills cut two-
inch planks in lengths shown
in photos. From smaller trees
extra long ties were made.

The government paid $8500
to the sawmills; the settlers
donated their labour.

At the two ends of the mus-
keg the first ties were rolled
out upon the quaking surface
by means of pikepole. With
this short foundation estab-
lished the first planks were
slid into position across the
ties. And, so slowly yet surely,
a few yards at a time, the
world’s longest and most un-
usual roadway of its kind
joined the two settlements.

Because of the narrowness
of the roadway, a method to
permit two-way traffic was
created by building sidings a
short distance from each
other, always in sight of the
other.

- ‘Turnouts’ made two-way traffic possible on world’s longest

plank road.

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Careful driving, on planks

sometimes slippery with rain
or frost, was essential. A veh-
icle skidding might turn over
into the bog, and be swallow-
ed up, or straddle the right-
of-way; this latter accident
could tie up traffic many
hours due to difficulty of put-
ting a vehicle back on the
road in such difficult terrain.

’ Yet, this 14 miles held a
highway record; no one was
killed or even bady injured
upon it!

In its earliest days only
wagons and bicycles travelled
upon it. The smooth almost
gradeless miles offered rec-
reation for young people in a
land where entertainment was
limited.

One warm July holiday a
young man and his girl were
riding on either side of the
planking. The man unluckily
took his eyes off the danger-
ous way too long while gazing
at his companion. The front
wheel swerved, struck a tie
and threw the man in so deep
a dive he sunk into the bog
with only his legs protruding.
He faced quick death by suf-
focation. The girl threw her-
self down on the planking, legs
braced against the edge,
caught his legs and pulled
him to safetv.

An even more remarkable
happening befell 15-year-old
Gordon Travers. While walk-
ing to Tlell he came up behind
an empty truck halted while
the driver was eating lunch
on the front seat. The truck’s
tailgate was down. The boy,
moving around the vehicle,
momentarily forgot the open
bog space. He stepped down
and began to sink in the mire.
Then extraordinarily, his life
was saved by his chin striking
the tailgate, halting his sink-

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Vast tree stand on Graham Island made possible building
road in 1929 with then cheap planking.

ing sufficiently for him to
reach up and hang on until
his shouts brought the driver
to his rescue.

Eventually, a modern grav-
elled road was built to serve
the towns in the vicinity. The

}

old plank highway was no
longer necessary, and has now
disappeared as completely as
though it had sunk forever
into the very quagmire area
it served so faithfully for so

many years.
—Hiballer

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ling Fil

ot published or displayed by the Liquor Control Board or by the Government of British Columbia.

P UIS2-408C

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