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NEWS BRIEF: Steen River bridge rebuilt

0803wildfire13
Photo courtesy of Lotti Derungs Smoke rises into the sky near Bluefish Dam, where a raven allegedly hitting a power transformer led to a forest fire. Yellowknifers witnessed an hour-long power outage as a result of the blaze.

CN Rail has rebuilt the bridge at Steen River, Alta., reconnecting a vital supply line to the North.

Raj Gupta, vice-president of system engineering at CN, wrote in a statement that the bridge was a key "commercial link for many communities near Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories and is key to their economic development."

After a wildfire destroyed the bridge in May, fuel could no longer be shipped along the rail line to Hay River, where it was then distributed throughout the territory by truck and barge.

Since the bridge's destruction, Imperial Oil covered the extra costs of trucking the fuel.