Bosanska Otoka - This summer, engineers from 11th Field Squadron deployed with the Third Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Battle Group in Bosnia and Hercegovina (BiH) had an opportunity to repeat history in Bos Otoka, a small town divided along the mighty Una River in the Northwest sector of the DNM-SW.
This small town has seen its share of war. In the center of Otoka, there is a large steel bridge from the late 1920s that is the only bridge across the river within 9 km. During WWII, a section of the bridge was damaged prompting the construction of an improvised wooden bridge to replace it until it could be repaired. During the war in the Former Yugoslavia, the historic bridge again became the focus of attention for crossing the Una. Eventually one span of the bridge was destroyed.
The same section of the three-span, steel bridge that was damaged in WWII was once again blown into the gap. After the war in the Former Yougoslavia, a Mabey- Johnson military bridge was built to replace the damaged third span. Until this summer, this was a main crossing point for all traffic across the Una River. However, in order to make room for the steel bridge to be rebuilt, the military bridge had to be removed. The SFOR Canadian Engineers of the 11th Fd Sqn were tasked to delaunch the military bridge. The local Government Cantonal Ministry also asked SFOR if a footbridge could be built to allow the town's people to cross the river in the interim. This also occurred after World War II. Canadians, therefore, began to repeat history along the Una River.
By mid-June, the 1st Field Troop began construction of a pontoon footbridge designed by Sergeant Chris Atkinson, the Troop RECCE Sergeant. A total of 17 pontoons were needed to cross the river. The local Cantonal Ministry provided all the required material to build the bridge. The engineers, working in pairs at the Canadian SFOR Camp Holopina, in Coralici, had a little competition to see which team could build a pontoon the quickest. In no time, the pontoons were ready to be loaded on trucks and hauled to the river.
The crowds began to gather in Otoka as the pontoons were launched into the river, towed over to the construction site with a Zodiac, and attached to an anchor cable stretching from bank to bank. Soon, under the guidance of the bridge commander, Master Corporal Darren Baker, the bridge began to take shape as a line of pontoons stretched across the gap. The local children got into the work assisting with the handrails by handing them to the troops. Even before the finishing touches were completed, people were using the bridge to cross the river.
The next task was to delaunch the 13-bay Mabey-Johnson Military Bridge to make room to rebuild the old steel bridge. The Canadian engineers, assisted by two sections of Czechoslovakian engineers, got to work early in the morning of July 4, under the guidance of bridge commander, Sergeant Jamie Fader.
Once all the work was finished, an age-old Sapper tradition was carried out -- the two bridge commanders, Sergeant Fader and Master Corporal Baker, were tossed into the river. As local citizens crossed the gap with buckets of fruit and supplies, history had been repeated.
Cpl. Diego Bunuel, of the SFOR Informer staff contributed to this article.

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Nations of SFOR: Canada, Czech Republic
Engineers