Prior to the upgrade done during World War II the old No. 2 highway (now known as the Old Smith Highway) was not much more than a wagon trail. Before the upgrades if you were able to catch a ferry across the river you faced over 30 small bridges and long stretches or corduroy, a type of road made by placing logs over low and swampy areas (a.k.a. muskeg). Gravelling a road was virtually unheard of. Needless to say it was a slow trip. If the ferry was not running because of ice or high water you loaded your vehicle on a railway flat car and rode the rails to Slave Lake.
During World War II when the machinery and money was available hundreds of men were sent to upgrade the road. In 1944 they also built the bridge over the Athabasca River. This feat was performed by the US Army Corp of Engineers.
Some say the bridge was placed at its current location so that enemy planes could not line up to bomb it. Logic would say that the roads, such as they were, were already in place so they built the bridge to match them. Another story associated with the river bridge is that during the war when metal and steel were scarce, they disassembled the bridge somewhere in the United States and freighted it here where it was re-assembled. Either way it has become a landmark of our hamlet of which we are quite proud.