In the old days no bridge had been built over river Jökla, people used cable wagons made of timber to cross the river. Approximately one and sometimes two persons fitted inside a cable wagon which then had to be pulled across by wires which were strung on either side of the river. The Cable wagon were situated at Eiríksstaðir, Brú and Merki. The farmer Stefán from Merki rebuilt this cable wagon at Merki in its original form which can be visited.
Before the hydroelectric plant Kárahnjúkavirkjun was built between 2004-2007 the river Jökla was one of the biggest and most powerful glacial rivers in Iceland. Therefore, it was often very dangerous to cross the river by using the cable wagons. If the cable wagons could sometime be a bit too heavy so it touched the river sometimes resulting the wagon to turn upside down.