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| View Original: | Bridge over the Copper River between Childs and Miles Glaciers, ca 1915 (THWAITES 273).jpeg.jpg (351x599) | |||
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| Keywords: Bridge over the Copper River between Childs and Miles Glaciers, ca 1915 (THWAITES 273).jpeg check categories 27 October 2016 2 Photograph Creator John E Thwaites Completed in 1910 the Million Dollar Bridge was the crux of the Copper River and Northwestern Railway built to carry copper oar 196 miles from Kennicott to Cordova Along that route were some of the greatest obstacles Alaska offers-steep canyons rivers hurricane-force winds mosquitoes and dozens of glaciers A fortune in high-grade copper locked deep in the Wrangell Mountains inspired Outside investors including the Guggenheim family and J P Morgan to risk building a railway from an ice-free port on Alaska's southcentral coast to the rich copper deposits at Kennicott Two of the largest obstacles on the route were Miles and Childs glaciers both of which calve icebergs into the Copper River from opposite banks Erastus Hawkins the engineer in charge of the railroad project and Michael Heney the construction contractor preferred to run the railroad alongside the Copper River but the Miles and Childs glaciers sprawl over both shorelines at a pinch-point about 15 miles from the river's mouth Not listening to other engineers who thought the problem was insurmountable Hawkins designed a 1 550-foot steel bridge to span the Copper River at a river bend between the two glaciers Starting in April 1909 workers scrambled to complete the Million Dollar Bridge spurred on by a U S law that gave railroad developers four years to complete a designated route After four years the government would tax them 100 per operating mile per year Contactors finished the bridge by midsummer of 1910 Soon after construction of the Million Dollar Bridge which cost 1 4 million to build the glaciers threatened the railroad In August 1910 two glaciologists from the National Geographic Society studied the sudden advances of both Miles and Childs glaciers A northern lobe of Childs Glacier began creeping toward the bridge in June and by August it was moving eight feet per day On August 17th the 200-foot face of the glacier was 1 624 feet away from the bridge Childs Glacier did not engulf the bridge but the glacier crept to within 1 475 feet in June 1911 Childs and Miles glaciers have since retreated sparing the Million Dollar Bridge which served the railway from 1910 until 1938 when low copper prices forced the shutdown of the Copper River and Northwestern Railway The bridge survived nature's whims until March 27 1964 when the Good Friday Earthquake knocked the northernmost span from its concrete piling Caption on image Bridge over Copper River between Childs and Miles Glaciers Alaska Said to have cost 1 000 000 PH Coll 247 639<br/>The Million Dollar Bridge standing almost intact on the lower Copper River is a reminder of another improbable Alaska construction project Subjects LCTGM Miles Glacier Bridge Alaska ; Railroad bridges--Alaska; Railroad tracks--Alaska; Copper River Alaska depicted place United States--Alaska--Childs Glacier ca 1915 Institution University of Washington UWASH-THWAITES-source accession number thwaites 273 PD-old-auto-1923 1940 Information field Order Number THW302 Images from the John E Thwaites Photographs of Alaska Collection to check Miles Glacier Bridge Rail tracks | ||||
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