Farmers frustrated by lack of action on burnt-out bridge

For the last six years, harvest time has been far from simple for Randolph farmer Arthur Rempel.

That’s because the bridge spanning the Manning Canal, which divides his two corn fields, doesn’t exist anymore.

“Although its not a monumental challenge, its always a bother because we can’t get to it the easy way,” Rempel told The Carillon.

The bridge, located near the Rd 30E and Rd 39 N intersection nearly five kilometres north of Mitchell, was destroyed in a 2019 fire.

The canal is a drainage waterway and falls under provincial jurisdiction. Since the bridge crosses the canal, the province is responsible for replacing it.

The 60-year-old has 7,000 acres and grows wheat, corn and canola. When the bridge burned, he expected it would’ve been replaced quickly.

“We never realized how often we needed to use the bridge until the bridge wasn’t there,” he said.

Since 2019, he’s been forced to take a five kilometre detour to get around the canal and into his fields. Rempel said he’ll hopefully begin harvesting the corn in those fields by October. He’s already started harvesting his wheat and canola crops. Each trip around the bridge costs him extra fuel and puts more wear-and-tear on his equipment.

“Every hour that the machines have to operate and people have to work at getting a header attached and disassembled and put back onto the trailer costs money,” he said.

Rempel said rebuilding the bridge would be a “great thing” and he was wondering if it ever would get done.

Tim Wiens, another farmer near the bridge, said the 2019 fire marked the second time the bridge was ruined. The first time happened a couple years before the fire and was caused by ice collapsing the bridge during the spring melt, he said. Wiens didn’t know the specific year for the first closure.

He said the bridge was also the easiest route to his fields and forced him to take a three-kilometre detour. As the years went by, Wiens was disappointed to not see the bridge replaced. But now he’s seen the missing bridge as a positive because it’s forced him to take safer routes across Highway 12 to his fields. There’s also been less traffic and large trucks on roads the bridge connected, which improved the safety of his kids playing near the road, Wiens said.

“I’ve grown accustomed to it. So I’m in a place where I feel content if they do replace it. That’s okay with me,” he said. “But I won’t call in and say, ‘Hey this has to be done.’”

While Wiens is fine adjusting the routes to his fields, he acknowledged that farms who have property closer to the canal relied on the bridge more.

Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure is investigating options for the crossing, a provincial spokesperson said in an email statement. The province plans to share its findings with the RM of Hanover in Spring 2026, they said.