New dock ready to greet you next spring

Let me put you up to speed on something that will be waiting for you at the lodge next spring. This is a project which has been two years in the making and that was expertly orchestrated by our very own bush-engineer Leo Nolette. It was completed just before our departure from the lake at the end of September.

Last year in the fall, for one week straight, the boys poured concrete non-stop in a half dozen large cribs under the existing dock. It was a massive undertaking, and a true testament to the pride each worker at Aikens puts into his/her sweat-equity. These forms sat, cured and hid under the planks and the high water all of this summer, until this fall when the water dropped again.

Now it was Leo’s turn to shine. Assisted by only a select few, he deftly welded joists, posts and trusses together to create what is now more of a pier than a dock. Decked with pressure-treated lumber, this new infrastructure stands two feet higher (also ground level) than it’s predecessor, so no more hopping around wet spots on the dock in the spring. The dock is 110 feet long and ten feet wide. The''T'' at the end is now 40 feet wide!Sporting an extended wing on the north end, the now super-sized dock will offer more real estate to those dock-bite aficionados next spring! Yet another beautiful addition to the now long list of upgrades which has completely transformed our much loved lodge.