Aidan Reilly/Daily Mining Gazette Left to Right, Alice Roache, OHM Advisors Structural Engineer, John Diebel, Hancock Trails Club Treasurer, Hancock Mayor Kurt Rickard and Hancock Community Development Director Todd Gast, cut a ribbon over one of five new bridges added to the trail.

The Swedetown Gorge trail, a section of the Maasto Hiihto/Churning rapids trail system that crisscrosses Swedetown Creek, was reopened Tuesday afternoon with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The gorge was devastated in the Father’s Day flood of 2018 knocking out several bridges and altering embankments.

John Diebel, treasurer of the Hancock Trails Club and club member since 2006, recalled seeing the devastation the day after the storm.

“It’s kind of terrible to see everything you’ve worked for trashed overnight,” Diebel said.

With funds totaling over $800,000 from FEMA and collaboration between private landowners, Hancock Trails Club, designs by OHM Advisors and construction by MJO Contractors, the trail is now open to public use.

A total of five bridges and a 550-foot boardwalk were installed along the milelong section between Sisu Hill and Tomasi Road.

Alice Roache, structural engineer with OHM Advisors and an avid skier and biker, took the reins on the project because of her affinity for the trail system.

“It’s really nice to see that the spaces will be used, and the bridges and trail get all the use they deserve,” Roache said.

Roache stated that the impact of the flood-altered stream banks required mitigation applications to meet flow levels pre-storm.

“At every instance, we at least met the same flow capacity at pre-storm, and in most cases, we improved it,” Roache said. “A lot of these foundations are pinned into the bedrock. It’s very promising with regards to the durability of the structures.”

Among the bikers, skiers and hikers who attended the rededication was an air of excitement.

“So happy to see this restored. This has always been one of the premier ski trails in the Midwest,” Diebel said.