Postcard FI-4027399

The establishment of the Utrankoski sawmill in 1780 began regular log driving activities on Pielisjoki river (in the picture). At the end of the 1950s, the city of Joensuu and the North Karelian Log Driving Association decided to honor the local forestry work and the logging industry with a statue. The bronze sculpture designed by the sculptor Oskari Jauhiainen (1913-1990) was unveiled on Ilosaari island on October 17, 1964. It's called Ruuhkanpurkajat. It shows two men, log drivers, who guide the logs with their pike poles. These men are part of the "jam" crew who watched the spots where logs floating on the river were likely to jam, and when a jam started, tried to get to it quickly and dislodge the key logs before many logs stacked up. The English translation for the statue is literally "the clearers of the rush (jam)".

More about Finnish log driving: https://www.verla.fi/en/history/logdriving